*  FEB  7  1910   *: 


BV  638  .R6  1909 
Roads,  Charles,  1855 
Rural  Christendom 


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FEB   7  1910 
(Eteen  ffuna  JSooft  IRQ-  15  ^^^    , ^-r^-,     4 

RURAL  CHRISTENDOM 


THE  PROBLEMS  OF  CHRISTIANIZING 
COUNTRY  COMMUNITIES 


CHARLES  ROADS 

AUTHOR     OF      "  CHRIST    ENTHRONED     IN     THE     INDUSTRIAL 
world";    "abnormal  christians";    "bible   STUDIES 
FOR  TEACHER  TRAINING  "  ;    "  CHILD  STUDY  "  ;  "  SUN- 
DAY-SCHOOL organization  AND  METHODS,"  ETC. 


A  PRIZE  BOOK 


PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION 

i8i6  Chestnut  Street 

1909 


Copyright,  1909.  by  The  American  Sunday-School  Union. 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE. 


This  book  is  issued  by  the  American  Sunday- 
school  Union,  under  the  John  C.  Green  Income 
Fund,  which  provides,  among  other  things,  that 
the  Union  shall  choose  the  subject — always  ger- 
mane to  the  object  of  the  Society — control  the 
Copyright,  reducing  the  price  of  the  book  in 
consideration  thereof,  and  thus  aid  in  securing 
works  of  a  high  order  of  merit.  To  conserve  the 
individual  traits  and  responsibility  of  the  author, 
large  liberty  is  given  him  in  the  literary  form,  style 
and  treatment  of  the  subject. 

This  book  enters  a  comparatively  new  field,  and 
that  it  won  the  prize  of  one  thousand  dollars,  out  of 
many  worthy  and  scholarly  works  in  competition 
indicates  its  merit.  The  store  of  information  and 
suggestion  it  contains  on  a  question  of  foremost 
importance  in  our  national  life,  hitherto  scantily 
treated,  will  add  interest  to  the  comprehensive  and 
scientific  treatment  of  this  new  topic. 

September,  1909. 


CONTENTS. 


Section  I.— The  Rural  Situation. 

CHAPTER  ^^°° 

I.  The   Rural  Community   is   Good   Ground    for 

Christian  Principles 9 

II.  Actual  Present  Relations  of  City  and  Country..  i8 

III.  The  Open  Country  and  the  Small  Village 28 

IV.  The  Town  Problem 5^ 

V.  Towns  and  Villages  of  Special  Character 62 

VI.  The  Rural  Suburb 72 

VII.  A  Great  Future  for  Rural  Districts 81 

Section  II.— How  Christian  Principles  are  Spread 
AND  Made  Controlling  in  the  Country. 

VIII.  The  Twofold  Way  of  Propagating  the  Gospel  loi 

IX.  Gospel  Principles  for  Christ's  Workers 106 

X.  Civic  Christianity  in  Rural  Districts 121 

XI.  Christlike  Work-Day  Relations 131 

XII.  The  Country  Store  in  the  King's  Business 141 

XIIL  Christian  Home  Life  in  the  Country 150 

XIV.  Educational  Forces  Christianizing 167 

XV.  Social  Village  Culture  for  Christ 191 

XVI.  Village  Improvement ^99 

XVII.  The  Village  Literary  Society. . . . , 208 

5 


6  CONTENTS. 

Section  III. — The  Church  for  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  in  Rural  Christianizing. 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

XVIir.  The  Place  and  Power  of  the  Local  Church 217 

XIX.  To  Every  Creature 226 

XX.  Every  Member  at  Work  with  all  His  Talents. .  239 

XXI.  To  Perfect  Every  Man  in  all  His  Nature 251 

XXII.  Using  all  Her  Resources 262 

XXIII.  Discovering,  Training,  and  Placing  Her  Workers 

and  Leaders 282 

XXIV.  Specific  Organizations  in  the  Country  Church. .  291 

Appendix , .  309 

Topical  Index 315 


SECTION  I. 

THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE    RURAL    COMMUNITY    IS    GOOD    GROUND    FOR 
CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES. 

In  the  open  farming  region  and  in  the  quiet 
country  hamlet  are  found,  in  all  ages,  the  most 
fertile  soil  and  genial  atmosphere  for  Christian 
character  and  many  gospel  institutions.  With- 
out making  claim  now  that  the  country  is  far 
more  favorable  to  a  conquest  by  Christian  prin- 
ciples than  the  stirring  city,  we  will  indicate 
its  inviting  conditions.  It  is  enough  for  its 
rich  promise  of  development  to  show,  that 
as  irrigation  and  scientific  agriculture  have  re- 
deemed great  wastes  of  land,  so  the  element  of 
spiritual  fertility  which  is  lacking,  may  be  sup- 
plied with  amazing  results. 

The  country  furnishes  what  the  modem 
teacher  calls  "atmosphere"  and  what  he  re- 
gards as  so  essential  to  spiritual  progress.  At- 
mosphere in  this  pedagogic  sense  is  much  more 
than    static    environment.      It    is    environment 

9 


10-  RURAL  CHRISTEAWOM. 

filled  with  inspirations.  And  nowhere  are  the 
inspirations  to  profound  and  strenuous  thought, 
to  sincere  worship,  to  larger  visions  so  power- 
fully rich  as  where  God  seems  almost  visible  in 
the  grandeur  of  his  daily  miracles  in  field  and 
sky  and  mountain. 

This  impressiveness  of  surroundings  is  felt 
even  by  the  mature  man  from  the  city  if  he  is 
at  all  tender  of  heart  and  soul,  but  when  the 
child,  whose  open-eyed  wonder  rests  first  upon 
green  fields,  groves  of  majestic  trees,  and  the 
unbroken  expanse  of  blue  sky,  is  given  real  en- 
thusiasm for  nature  and  some  knowledge  of 
God,  he  will  have  a  mighty  initial  impulse  in 
the  spiritual.  Unquestionably  he  also  needs 
early  in  life  the  stir  of  city  activities,  the  city's 
intense  stimulation  of  every  faculty,  and  its  in- 
spiring fellowships,  and  these  are  now  accessi- 
ble to  ever  larger  sections  of  rural  communi- 
ties. But  for  noblest  character  which  shall  in- 
carnate gospel  principles,  both  religious  and 
ethical,  the  first  touch  and  the  finishing  touch 
may  well  come  from  the  farm  and  the  village. 

Since  the  days  of  Paul  and  Luther,  and  even  of 
Washington  and  Lincoln,  many  mighty  forces  of 
nature  have  been  tamed  and  harnessed  to  serve 
man,  yet  now,  as  then,  personal  power  is 
the  supreme  power.  It  was  the  thinking  of  the 
farmers  of  1776,  and  their  splendid  characters 
and  patriotic  struggles  that  gave  us  a  free 
country.     It   will   be  the   sound  thinking  upon 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  n 

great  present  day  issues  by  rural  dwellers  who 
have  time  to  think  profoundly  that  will  pre- 
serve our  cherished  institutions  of  church  and 
state.  The  whole  nation  is  concerned  in  the 
problems  of  the  farm  and  of  the  village. 

The  scientific  spirit  of  our  day,  inductive  and 
experimental,  tireless  and  painstaking,  aspiring 
for  absolute  truth  and  enlisting  armies  of  in- 
vestigators, has  created  in  thoughtful  men  a 
new  attitude  toward  nature.  Science  has  rec- 
ognized the  reign  of  law,  and  there  are  those 
who  fear  for  the  vision  of  God.  But  even  the 
non-Christian  masters  of  science  freely  admit 
the  necessary  existence  of  Unsearchable  Power 
beyond  law  and  surely  the  Christian  believer 
recognizes  here  the  heavenly  Father. 

Standing  under  the  country  evening  sky,  un- 
obstructed by  lofty  buildings,  undimmed  by  city 
electric  brilliance,  can  he  not  see  with  astron- 
omers like  Herschell  that  the  "  undevout  as- 
tronomer is  mad  " ;  or  with  Bufifon  that  "  Na- 
ture is  the  visible  throne  of  Divine  power. 
Created  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  universe,  the 
divine  spark  by  which  man  is  animated,  renders 
him  a  participant  in  the  divine  mysteries.  He 
sees  and  reads  In  the  book  of  the  world  a  re- 
flection of  the  Divinity."  Professor  Hitchcock 
declares,  "  He  who  knows  the  most  about  science 
ought  most  powerfully  to  feel  this  religious  In- 
fluence. He  ought  to  go  forth  from  it 
among  his  fellow-men  with  radiant  glory  in  his 


12  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

face,  like  Moses  from  the  holy  mount."  Still 
more  sweepingly  says  Professor  Harris,  "  God's 
revelation  of  himself  is  not  limited  to  a  few 
transcendent  but  isolated  facts  of  the  super- 
natural. Every  lily  and  every  sparrow,  be- 
cause it  is  the  work  of  his  hand  reveals  in  itself 
the  thought  and  the  power  of  God."  So  Ruskin, 
profoundest  of  scholars  and  seers,  tells  us  he 
felt  a  thrilling  awe  and  wonderful  joy  in  his 
studies  of  nature. 

We  have  too  long  in  easy  imitation  urged 
the  Christian  to  rise  from  nature  to  nature's  God. 
Spurgeon's  thought  is  better,  ''  The  thing  is  to 
go  from  nature's  God  down  to  nature;  to  know 
God  first  in  his  Word  and  then  see  him  in  his 
works."  It  is  after  the  morning  communion 
with  the  heavenly  Father  that  the  hills  and 
fields  and  sky  are  filled  with  him. 

The  growing  **  nature  study  "  of  the  schools  is 
extending  into  the  country  school,  and  is  spurred 
on  by  great  numbers  of  individual  enthusiasts.  It 
will  inevitably  lead  to  fine  spiritual  results  as 
even  in  the  rollicking  verses  of  James  Whit- 
comb  Riley: 

"  And  so  I  love  clover — it  seems  like  a  part 
Of  the  sacredest  sorrows  and  joys  of  my  heart 
And  wherever  it  blossoms,  oh,  there  let  me  bow 
And  thank  the  good  God  as  I'm  thanking  him  now, 
And  I  pray  to  him  still  for  the  strength  when  I  die, 
To  go  out  in  the  clover  and  tell  it  good-bye, 
And  lovingly  nestle  my  face  in  its  bloom, 
While  my  soul  slips  away  in  a  breath  of  perfume." 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  13 

The  time  has  indeed  come  when  the  man 
whose  eye  is  on  the  furrow  he  is  plowing  in  the 
country,  and  the  man  who  is  gazing  on  his  rake 
for  gold  in  the  city,  shall  both  look  upward  and 
see  their  crown  as  the  sons  of  God,  their  God 
transcendent  but  truly  immanent  in  the  land 
where  his  daily  wonders  are  wrought  on  every 
foot  of  ground.  When  we  see  these  things 
through  Christ's  eyes  and  the  poets'  eyes  we 
shall  measure  more  fully  the  advantages  of  the 
country  for  Christianizing  influences. 

1.  Now  when  we  are  coming  to  appreciate 
more  adequately  the  physical  basis  necessary  to 
largest  Christian  life  we  see  that  it  was  in  the 
country  that  the  Washingtons  and  Lincolns,  the 
Luthers,  and  still  earlier  Joseph  and  Moses  and 
David  grew  the  firmly  knit  bodies  which  served 
them  in  long-continued  strains  of  grandest 
achievement.  Their  strenuous  spirits  mightily 
wrestling  to  express  the  life  of  God  found  pow- 
erful forms  able  to  hold  and  to  manifest  thenL    • 

2.  Think  again  of  the  nearness  of  God  in  na- 
ture moving  the  heart.  1 

3.  Only  in  the  country  is  there  the  long  winter 
of  leisure  for  thought  and  meditation.  There  is, 
of  course,  much  work  on  the  farm  in  winter  in 
feeding  the  stock,  caring  for  and  marketing  of 
some  crops,  planning  and  erecting  additional 
buildings,  and  so  on,  and  there  are  men  who  "  pot- 
ter "  about  the  barn  and  stable  all  day  with  a  few 
acres  of  a  farm,  but  to  the  farmer  who  wills  to 


14  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

have  leisure,  in  most  cases,  all  necessary  work 
in  winter  is  done  in  a  few  morning  and  eve- 
ning hours,  and  he  is  in  his  comfortable  study 
five  to  seven  hours  a  day.  The  absence  of  city 
distractions,  round  of  fashionable  follies,  and 
manifold  temptations  to  idling  and  dissipations, 
is  an  incalculable  wealth  of  opportunity. 

The  "  old "  farmer — in  President  Butter- 
field's  happy  classification  *  of  "  old  farmer," 
"  new  farmer  "  and  *'  mossback  " — the  "  old 
farmer  "  who  numbered  ninety-six  in  every  hun- 
dred of  the  people  of  America  in  1800  "  con- 
quered the  American  continent."  It  was  his 
clear  and  virile  thinking  that  broke  away  from 
old  despotisms  and  wrongs  and  established  the 
wonderful  ideals  and  institutions  of  the  Repub- 
lic. And,  let  it  be  often  said,  the  future  of 
America  will  largely  rest  upon  the  thinking  of 
the  "  new  farmer "  who  must  ever  be,  if  men 
are  to  have  food  to  live,  the  largest  single  ele- 
ment of  our  population.  What  the  farmer- 
citizen  will  finally  conclude  as  to  the  issues  of 
capital  and  labor,  a  rational  system  of  finance, 
public  franchises,  and  all  else,  will  probably 
win. 

The  farm-house  now  has  the  long  evening  of 
civilization.  Few  farmer  families  think  of  retir- 
ing to  bed  at  the  "  candle-light "  of  our  grand- 
mother's day.  The  candle  itself  is  almost  a 
relic.    The  development  of  the  kerosene  lamp  to 

*  *'  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress,"  p.  53. 


THE  R  URA  L  SITU  A  TION.  1 5 

its  brilliancy  of  light  and  safety  greatly 
lengthens  life,  and  constitutes  the  new  civiliza- 
tion which  begins  after  the  work  day  is  closed. 
The  Lincoln  of  to-day,  with  his  passion  for 
books,  sits  beside  a  Rochester  lamp,  with  circular 
or  double  wick,  air-fed,  brilliant  as  electric  light 
and  far  better  than  kings  had  a  century  ago.  In 
the  small  towns  and  villages  electric  lights  or 
acetylene  gas  are  more  common  than  in  city 
homes.  These  hours  for  home  and  study  dur- 
ing the  day  and  the  long  evening  give  the 
country  church  its  rich  opportunity  for  ex- 
tended Bible  study  plans.  If  wise,  fresh,  and 
practical  methods  are  inaugurated  and  by  earnest 
personal  work  their  general  adoption  is  secured, 
the  winter  months  on  the  farm  will  grow  most 
beautiful  characters.  Christian  home  life  and 
powerful  churches.  What  splendid  reading  and 
thinking  some  farmers  are  doing  these  days, 
and  what  delightful  and  stirring  discussions  of 
deep  current  questions  by  the  well-informed  par- 
ents and  the  bright  children  there!  Family  wor- 
ship around  an  open  Bible  read  and  talked  over 
before  the  tender  and  comprehensive  prayer,  and 
then  the  time  for  private  communion  with  the 
heavenly  Father. 

4.  The  pre-eminence  of  the  church  in  the 
country  in  the  public  eye  is  another  vast  gain 
for  Christian  life.  The  church  steeple  in  the 
country  is  higher  than  any  other  building.  It  is 
not  sunk  in  wells  of  brick  and  stone  made  by 


1 6  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

office  sky-scrapers,  huge  manufacturing  plants, 
and  gigantic  department  stores.  It  is  first  in  real 
importance  as  a  public  building  and  not  fourth 
or  fifth.  There  is  no  newspaper  tower  like  an- 
other Babel  overshadowing  it  in  physical  lofti- 
ness or  in  influence;  there  is  no  factory  whose 
smoke  entirely  obscures  the  church  building; 
and  there  are  no  playhouses,  clubhouses,  or 
worse,  that  are  more  attractive  in  appearance 
and  program  to  the  people.  Who  can  measure 
the  advantage  of  this  church  pre-eminence? 

5.  Social  conditions  are  freer  in  the  country. 
They  may  be  controlled  by  Christian  influences. 
Old  associations  of  the  country  home,  the  old 
hearthstone,  the  old  oaken  bucket  at  the  well, 
the  old  apple  trees,  the  old  graveyard  at  the 
dear  old  church  are  ties  of  power.  And  the 
wide  kinships  of  blood,  the  ideal  friendships, 
and  the  abundant  hospitality  are  there  as  no- 
where else.  There  are  not  the  social  extremes 
of  rich  and  very  poor. 

The  rural  community  is  good  ground  for  the 
Christian  life  both  in  material  and  in  environ- 
ment. In  the  farm  regions  there  are  drawbacks 
in  contrast  with  city  conditions  such  as  scat- 
tered church  membership,  but  this  difficulty  is 
also  in  the  downtown  city  church;  and  in  the 
large  village  and  in  the  town  the  church  mem- 
bers are  usually  only  a  few  minutes  from  the 
church.  There  is  the  lack  of  intense  activity 
and  city  ideals,  but  in  the  city  church  these  are 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


17 


often  outside.  On  the  whole,  discounting  all 
that  a  just  estimate  requires,  the  rural  districts, 
even  of  the  sparsely  settled  farm  community,  offer 
very  good  ground  for  largest  Christian  effort. 
And  the  village  and  the  town  are  still  better. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ACTUAL    PRESENT    RELATIONS    OF    CITY    AND 
COUNTRY. 

Community  life  in  America,  city  and  rural, 
may  be  broadly  divided  into  five  distinct  types. 
There  are  not  simply  two,  city  and  farm  life, 
as  we  usually  classify  them,  but  two  different 
city  types  and  three  rural  types  of  community. 

•I.  The  city  of  metropolitan  size  is  itself  one 
problem,  so  vast  and  perplexing,  that  the  at- 
tention of  Christian  leaders  has  been  upon  it  al- 
most exclusively  for  a  generation.  The  engulf- 
ing of  the  city  in  business,  its  whirl  of  social 
excesses,  its  overwhelming  rush  and  crush  of 
strenuous  good  and  evil  crowd  and  cramp 
the  church  from  every  side.  It  would  seem  that 
to  save  our  greatest  cities  they  must  be  stirred 
also  by  Christian  forces  outside  of  the  church 
in  active  co-operation  with  aggressive  forces 
inside  the  church.  And  all  these  forces  have 
long  been  recruited  from  spiritual  and  active 
country  congregations.  The  city  problem  itself 
is  also  a  country  problem,  and  the  live  and  prom- 
ising end  of  it  is  in  the  country. 
i8 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  ig 

2.  The  next  type  of  community  is  the  large 
city  ranging  from  ten  thousand  to  over  one  hun- 
dred thousand  population.  There  are  several 
hundred  such  in  America.  They  still  have  large 
and  attractive  residential  sections  in  proximity 
to  business  centers ;  they  have  not  the  mad  haste 
of  metropolitan  activity;  they  have  a  more 
homogeneous  population.  This  large  city  not 
metropolitan  in  character  has,  for  Christian 
work,  much  of  the  great  advantage  of  largest 
cities  for  intensely  stimulating  atmosphere  of 
general  enterprise,  for  large  numbers  of  people 
easily  accessible,  and  high  ideals  and  general 
culture ;  and  it  has  freer  social  relations  and  less 
of  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty.  There  too 
the  church  is  still  the  most  popular  place  of  re- 
sort, the  pastor  still  a  prominent  citizen,  and 
Christian  fellowship  close  and  delightful.  This 
is,  on  the  whole,  the  most  fertile  field  for  the 
Christian  worker  to-day.  It  may  yet  be  saved 
by  its  powerful  churches  reaching  outward.  In 
many  w^ays  it  sheds  a  light  upon  rural  problems 
by  contrast  of  opportunities  and  suggestions  of 
methods.     But  it  is  a  city  field  in  every  respect. 

There  remain  three  types  of  community  which 
are  clearly  rural.  Alike  in  general  limitations 
and  conditions  they  are  different  in  important 
particulars. 

3.  The  open  country  of  farming,  mining  or 
lumbering  people  is  one  type,  and  their  small 
villages  belong  to  the  same  class.     Then  comes 


20  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

the  town  numbering  from  fifteen  hundred  up, 
with  its  greater  conveniences  of  living,  its 
denser  population,  some  civic  organization,  and 
better  schooling.  In  places  remote  from  large 
cities  we  may  include  some  towns  of  five  thou- 
sand as  having  about  the  same  general  charac- 
teristics. Lastly  we  have  the  suburb  or  resi- 
dential section  near  to  a  great  city  but  not  a 
part  of  its  organic  government,  where  rural 
conditions  prevail,  but  with  many  new  features 
to  be  considered. 

The  United  States  Census  classifies  as  "  city  " 
a  place  having  8,000  people  or  over.  In  1900 
there  were  550  such  cities.  But  this  line  of 
8,000  for  a  place  does  not  strictly  divide  be- 
tween city  and  country  conditions,  for  there  are 
cities  above  that  population  with  rural  charac- 
teristics in  every  respect,  and  many  places  below 
8,000,  some  of  5,000  people  with  a  city  govern- 
ment, city  activities,  and  society.  Allowing  for 
these  exceptions  it  is  probable  that  about  thirty 
millions  of  American  people  live  in  purely  city 
conditions. 

But  by  far  the  larger  number  live  in  rural 
America,  in  ten  thousand  towns  and  villages, 
and  in  the  open  farming  region.  The  total 
number  of  these  country  people  is  over 
50,000,000.  Outside  of  densely  settled  New 
England,  New  York  and  three  other  States,  the 
rest  of  the  country  has  fully  three-fourths  of 
its  people  amid  rural  conditions.    Problems  con- 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  2 1 

cerning  Ihem  are  supremely  important  not  only 
to  them  but  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world. 

It  is  of  course  true  that  cities  in  America  and 
in  the  world  have  grown  amazingly.  And  some 
rural  sections  have  decreased  in  population  by 
influx  to  the  cities.  But  rural  America  as  a 
whole  has  also  grown  to  vast  proportions  and 
is  growing  more  rapidly  than  ever.  The  United 
States  Census  figures  show  this  astonishing 
growth  of  farm  and  village  population  by  dec- 
ades. The  census  defines  as  rural  all  people 
in  cities  less  than  8,000  in  population  and  the 
comparison  is  made  on  this  basis: — 

Population  in  Rural  Districts  in  the  United  States. 

1840 16,615,459 

1850 20,294,290 

i860 26,371,065 

1870 30,486,496 

1880 38,837.236 

1890 44,349,747 

1900 50,485,268 

*i9o6 54,107,571 

This  crowding  of  new  people  is  upon  farms 
even  more  than  into  villages  and  hamlets.  The 
number  t  of   farms   in    1880   was   4,008,907,   in 

*  Census  Bulletin  71.  Latest  estimated  population  by  Cen- 
sus Bureau  including  interdecennial  census  by  fourteen  states. 

t  Census  Bulletin  237 — figures  for  1900  include  the  small 
number  in  Alaska  and  Hawaii. 


22  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

1890,  4,564,641  and  in  1900,  5739.657  growing 
much  beyond  rural  population  as  a  whole  in  the 
last  decade. 

In  forty  years  the  twenty-six  millions  of  i860 
almost  doubled,  and  in  sixty  years  the  country 
population  increased  more  than  threefold.  The 
United  States  as  a  whole  has  yet  about  three  out 
of  every  five  of  its  people  living  on  farms  or  in 
small  towns. 

4.  The  growth  of  cities  itself  necessitates 
enormous  growth  of  farms  and  farm  laborers 
to  supply  the  cities  with  food.  Already  the  pres- 
sure of  increasing  millions  of  people  is  upon 
food  supply,  and  is  alarmingly  raising  prices. 
This  is  sending  other  millions  of  people  into  the 
ever  more  profitable  general  and  special  hues  of 
agriculture.  The  increase  in  annual  value  of 
farm  products,  1890  to  1900,  almost  doubled  that 
of  the  preceding  decade,  and  for  1907  added 
58  per  cent,  to  1900,  (1890,  $2,460,107,454  and 
1900,  $4,739,118,752,  in  1907,  $7,412,000,000)  * 

5.  Still  more  significant  than  the  wonderful 
absolute  multiplication  of  population  in  rural 
districts  is  the  fact,  shown  by  the  last  United 
States  Census,  that  the  drift  city-ward  is  de- 
creasing and  that  a  decided  return  movement 
from  city  to  country  is  under  way.  This  long 
time  congestion  of  city  life  by  the  crowding  in 
of  the  ambitious  boy  and  girl  from  the  farm, 
the  town  and  the  village,  has  aroused  great  dis- 

*  Estimate  of  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 


THE  RURAL  SITU  A  TION.  23 

cussion.  The  city-ward  movement  is  over  a 
hundred  years  old,  beginning  in  1800  when 
96  per  cent,  of  the  people  were  in  the  country 
and  only  four  per  cent,  in  the  few  cities  of  over 
8000  people  then  in  existence;  the  movement 
grew  slowly  until  in  1850  urban  people  had  12^ 
per  cent. ;  then  it  leaped  rapidly  as  shown  by 
decades  to  16,  21,  22^,  and  in  1890  to  29  per 
cent,  of  the  whole.  But  this  promises  to  be  the 
high  water  mark,  for  now  the  swing  of  popula- 
tion is  reversing  unmistakably,  though  great 
cities  will  continue  to  grow  amazingly  and 
smaller  cities  multiply.  While  there  were  448 
cities  above  8000  in  1890  and  550  such  cities 
in  1900,  a  gain  of  one  hundred  more,  none  the 
less  is  the  city-to-country  movement  remarkable. 
In  the  decade  1880  to  1890  it  was  shown  by 
the  census  that  two-thirds  of  the  increase  of 
the  people  went  to  the  cities,  one-third  to  the 
country,  but  for  the  decade  1890  to  1900  the 
proportion  was  nearly  the  same  for  each.  The 
exact  figures  are  an  increase  of  6,374,000  for 
the  country,  and  6,736,000  for  cities.  From 
1900  to  1906,*  the  increase  for  rural  districts  is 
3,112,693,  for  cities  over  8000  population, 
3,466,927,  showing  that  this  movement  to  the 
country  continues.  Every  thoughtful  observer 
has  noted  the  country-ward  sweep,  every  city 
pastor  of  large  and  wealthy  churches  lamentably 

*  See  Census  Bulletin  71,  the  latest  estimates  of  the  U.  S. 
Census  Bureau  of  Population  before  the  new  census  1910. 


24  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

knows  of  it,  and  every  real  estate  dealer  is  try- 
ing to  adjust  rents  and  new  houses  to  it. 

6.  This  rural  trend  is  sure  to  grow  to  larger 
proportions.  The  call  of  the  country  is  ever 
louder  and  more  alluring.  The  longing  grows 
for  the  open  field  and  the  larger  free  environ- 
ment for  homes  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Every 
consideration  of  economy  and  sentiment  aids  it. 
Parents  believe  they  can  train  children  bettei 
away  from  the  crowded  streets,  under  the  trees, 
and  in  green  fields.  The  hard-pressed,  nerve- 
racked  business  man  and  the  professional  man 
of  failing  health  sniff  the  country  air  with  new 
vigor  and  inspiration,  and  are  coming  in  col- 
onies, by  villages  and  towns  built  almost  in  a 
day.  The  love  of  flowers  and  birds  attracts 
many,  and  the  call  of  the  fields  and  streams  and 
woods  is  eagerly  answered  now  that  electric  cars 
whirl  from  the  city  in  all  directions  far  out,  and 
automobiles  have  come,  and  airships  next,  and 
what  not  for  rapid  intercommunication.  This 
mingling  of  city  life  with  the  country  must  have 
larger  discussion  later,  for  it  will  extend  farther 
away  from  cities,  and  into  the  open  farming 
region  where  already  beautiful  mansions  on 
large  estates  are  common  sights. 

7.  The  rural  districts  are  now  strategic  for 
Christianizing  all  America.  There  is  where  the 
forces  of  evil  are  weakest,  unorganized,  and  un- 
entrenched.  The  saloon  is  rapidly  withdrawing 
from   rural   America,   and   resorts   of   evil    for 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  25 

gambling  and  lust  never  were  known  except  in  a 
certain  kind  of  town.  Moral  and  civic  victories 
at  the  present  time  are  won  in  rural  sections,  and 
in  States  with  few  large  cities.  The  national 
well-being  looks  to  country  voters  and  country 
legislators  for  reform  of  all  kinds,  and  there  are 
the  ever  favorable  battlefields.  And  for  relig- 
ious work  the  same  amount  of  effort  always 
produces  many  times  the  result  in  conversion 
and  strengthening  of  the  church  which  is  pos- 
sible in  cities.  The  same  expenditure  of  money 
will  bring  immensely  larger  returns  for  the 
Christian  life.  Country  boys  and  girls  crowd 
into  the  cities  and  it  is  easier  to  save  them  to 
Christ  before  they  leave  home  than  when  in  the 
maelstrom  of  city  vices  and  sins.  It  is  cheaper 
to  prevent  pollution  of  the  living  stream  at  its 
country  springs  than  to  filter  it  in  the  city.  In 
the  strong  and  attractive  town  or  village  church 
the  future  city  dweller  may  be  trained  in  char- 
acter and  for  service.  Every  weak  country 
church  is  also  a  menace  to  the  city. 

8.  For  its  own  sake  rural  America  must  be 
Christianized.  It  contains  three-fifths  of  all  the 
people,  and  is  thus  by  far  the  larger  field  as 
compared  with  all  the  cities.  It  will  be  easier 
to  save  this  three-fifths  of  the  country  than  that 
two-fifths  city  America.  The  leverage  for  the 
whole  nation  is  there  at  present,  and  the  future 
swings  that  way.  It  is  the  pressing  problem  of 
to-morrow.    In  all  the  past  the  city  was  fed  by 


26  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

streams  from  the  farm  and  the  village,  its  great 
leaders  for  the  most  part  were  bred  in  the 
country,  and  its  best  people  came  from  it.  It 
will  continue  to  be  country-fed  and  country-re- 
plenished in  the  future,  though  some  of  the  best 
young  men  and  women  under  the  greater  en- 
thusiasm for  farming  and  its  scientific  develop- 
ment even  now  choose  to  remain  there. 

And  it  is  now  certain  that  some  of  the  best 
people  from  the  country  to  the  city  are  return- 
ing to  the  country  to  live.  There  will  thus  be  the 
daily  freshening  and  purifying  of  city  people  by 
the  country  more  and  more,  so  that  to  save  the 
city  we  must  develop  the  country  church  to  its 
finest  and  loftiest  service,  character  and  training. 

This  means  that  the  city  Christian  must  vit- 
ally interest  himself  in  the  country  problem.  He 
must  energetically,  as  he  knows  so  well  how  to 
do,  throw  himself  into  the  rural  church,  help 
to  finance  its  forward  movements,  and  develop 
its  utmost  power.  The  uptown  church  needs 
larger  organization  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
the  downtown  church  must  not  be  abandoned, 
but  back  of  both  of  them  is  the  country  church 
which  often  actually  sends  into  them  more  mem- 
bers than  these  churches  win  from  their  city 
fields.  Do  not  these  city  churches  owe  to  the 
country  careful  study  of  conditions,  deepest 
sympathy,  and  support,  and  fervent  prayers? 
Let  this  study  of  rural  conditions  by  city  Chris- 
tian leaders  be  at  first  hand  by  going  into  the 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  27 

country  personally  for  it  and  patiently  and 
fully  investigating  actual  conditions.  In  no 
other  way  can  deepest  sympathy  and  intelligent 
co-operation  be  effected.  For  it  is  one  thing  to 
read  about  the  sore  needs  of  rural  America  in  a 
city  home,  and  quite  another  to  study  these  needs 
under  the  trees  of  the  farm  and  in  the  streets 
of  the  little  village. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    OPEN    FARMING    COUNTRY    AND    THE    SMALL 
VILLAGE. 

American  farm  homes  are  farther  apart  than 
any  in  the  world,  except  possibly  in  some  parts 
of  Russia,  and  more  isolated  than  any  in  history. 
In  Oriental  countries  like  Palestine,  the  farmers 
dwelt  together  in. villages  or  walled  towns  and 
went  out  to  their  fields  in  the  morning.  Fields 
for  pasturage  were  communal  and  free  to  all  in 
many  lands,  and  where  the  fields  for  tilling  were 
allotted  to  individuals  the  farms  were  small.  The 
families  lived  in  the  social  advantages  of  the 
walled  town  so  necessary  for  mutual  protection 
from  bands  of  robbers,  or  predatory  kings  and 
chieftains. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  farming  was  done  by 
feudal  lords  owning  vast  tracts  and  their  bond- 
men lived  in  groups  of  houses  or  villages  like 
the  slaves  on  great  southern  plantations  before 
i860.  In  small  countries  like  England,  Ireland 
and  Scotland  the  landlord  nobility  still  hold  title 
to  immense  estates  given  out  in  small  tracts  of 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  29 

a  few  acres  each  to  tenants,  and  where  the  farms 
are  owned  by  individuals  they  are  small  patches 
compared  with  the  two  hundred  to  six  hundred 
acres  of  the  American  farmer.  The  homestead 
of  the  great  West  contains  160  acres,  but  the 
purchase  of  neighbors'  holdings  doubles  and 
quadruples  many  of  these,  and  even  in  the 
older  Eastern  States  and  Middle  West,  except 
New  England,  two  hundred  to  three  hundred 
acre   farms   are   almost  the   rule. 

The  American  pioneer  struck  out  with  his 
family  alone  into  the  vast  unbroken  forest.* 
Making  peace  with  the  few  Indians  who  roamed 
over  what  are  now  great  States  he  cleared  a 
few  acres,  staked  out  as  much  more  as  he  could, 
and  worked  while  neighbors  came  on  following 
his  example  in  subjugating  the  wilderness. 
Miles  apart  were  these  early  settlers  and  they 
learned  to  live  alone.  The  vast  Commonwealths 
have  thus  filled  up,  but  even  now  the  population 
of  the  whole  country,  distributing  that  of  cities 
with  the  rest,  is  only  twenty-eight  f  to  the 
square  mile,  while  in  France  it  is  187,  in  Ger- 
many 225,  and  in  Holland  440.  The  intensive 
farming  of  France  and  Germany  requires  only 
a  few  acres  to  support  a  family,  and  villages  and 
towns  near  each  other  crowd  these  countries. 

Subtracting    the    population    of    cities    and 

*  See  Roosevelt's  "  Winning  of  the  West." 
t  Census  Bulletin  71.    Estimates  of  Population  for  1904 
1905,  1906,  page  17. 


20  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

larger  towns,  say  above  2,000,  in  the  United 
States  the  actual  farm  populations  on  the  land 
being  cultivated  may  be  estimated  as  probably 
less  than  fifteen  to  the  square  mile.  This  means 
only  about  three  families  of  five  each,  on  a  great 
stretch  of  every  640  acres,  a  square  mile.  Even 
Russia  has  sixteen  people,  counting  all  her  peo- 
ple, to  the  square  mile  and  the  farming  there, 
for  the  most  part,  is  not  done  by  isolated  single 
families  scattered  over  large  sections.  America 
is  probably  unique  in  this  condition  of  widely 
separated  homes  of  the  farmers.  Before  the 
new  era  of  electric  cars,  rural  free  delivery  of 
mails,  and  better  roads,  this  isolation  of  farm  life 
was  becoming  unendurable  to  multitudes.  Be- 
tween 1880  and  1890  the  rural  population  of  no 
less  than  seven  States  *  actually  declined  fully 
200,000  people  though  they  gained  2,500,000  in 
their  cities.  These  States  are  Maine,  Vermont, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Mary- 
land, and  Illinois.  Other  States  showed  a  simi- 
lar drift  to  the  cities. 

Farmers,  unable  to  sell  or  rent  farms,  simply 
abandoned  them.  In  New  Hampshire  alone  the 
State  Commissioner  reported  1442  vacant  or 
abandoned  farms.     In  Vermont  f  good  land  was 

*  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  in  "  New  Era  "  gives  these  facts. 

t  Hon  O.  L.  Martin,  Vermont  Com.  of  Agriculture,  explains 
(letter  June  21,  1909)  that  the  Vermont  abandoned  farms 
were  those  earliest  settled.  The  land  was  rough  and  later 
not  profitable.  "  There  are  no  first  class  farms  in  Vermont, 
abandoned."  This  is  probably  true  of  the  cases  in  othei 
States. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  31 

offered  at  one  or  two  dollars  an  acre.  In  New 
York  State  in  1889  in  Wayne  County  there  were 
400  empty  houses,  in  one  town  fifty,  in  another 
thirty.  In  Michigan  there  were  7419  fewer 
farmers  in  1890  than  in  1880,  though  the  popula- 
tion of  the  State  increased  over  400,000.  In 
general  out  of  a  total  of  25,746  townships  in 
thirty-nine  States  and  Territories,  10,063  town- 
ships *  lost  populations  between  1880  and  1890. 
So  widely  distributed  was  this  movement  from 
country  to  cities. 

This  loneliness  is  most  painful  in  farm  regions 
five,  ten  to  fifteen  miles  from  any  railroad.  In 
towns  and  villages  along  railroad  lines  there  is 
usually  a  stirring  life  and  more  frequent  visits 
to  cities  and  larger  towns.  The  inland  villages 
and  cross-roads  suffer  in  every  phase  of  their 
life  from  the  attractions  of  the  cities. 

Churches  had.  become  depleted,  struggling, 
and  some  closed.  In  one  New  York  village 
there  were  two  abandoned  Protestant  churches, 
one  active  Roman  CathoHc  church,  and  fourteen 
saloons.  In  another  a  former  Presbyterian 
church  is  now  used  as  a  barn,  the  Baptist  church 
is  abandoned,  and  the  two  Methodist  churches 
are  almost  extinct.    These  conditions  were  found  * 

*  1880  to  1890.  Dr.  Strong.  But  lest  we  should  become 
pessimistic  let  us  remember  the  large  majority  of  townships 
which  actually  gained  population.  And  the  gain  in  number 
of  farms  1890  to  1900  from  4,564,  641  to  5,739,657  a  gain  of 
25  per  cent.  This,  too,  not  by  subdividing  into  smaller  farms 
but  chiefly  by  adding  new  farms  for  the  average  size  of  farms 


-2  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

in  many  States  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  In 
Maine  there  were  ninety-five  towns  and  planta- 
tions where  no  religious  services  of  any  sort 
were  held,  and  even  more  than  that  number  in 
Illinois  without  the  Gospel. 

With  this  deterioration  of  churches  went 
every  other  good  thing,  and  there  is  no  wonder 
that  eminent  observers,  like  the  Home  Mission 
Secretaries  of  the  Churches,  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  leaders.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong,  and  others, 
became  pessimistic  over  the  outlook.  They 
argued  very  conclusively  to  themselves  that  this 
drift  to  the  cities  depleting  the  country  would  go 
on  with  accelerating  force. 

But  it  was  not  that  the  American  loves  farm^ 
ing  less.  He  loves  his  fellow-men  more.  Re- 
lief has  come  from  the  economic  side,*  where 
the  Church  was  helpless.  New  means  of  inter- 
communication, new  and  deeper  scientific  inter- 
est in  farming  itself,  have  revived  the  former 
fascination  of  the  field,  the  plow  and  the  orchard, 
and  with  human  society  assured,  the  churches 
will  be  reopened,  good  schools  built,  and  farms 
reoccupied. 

"  Uncle  Sam "  has  indeed  been  rich  enough 
to  give  all  who  wanted  it  a  farm,f  and  the  eager- 

also  increased  (1890  to  1900)  from  I36>^  acres  each  to  146.6 
acres  each. 

*  See  Chap.  VII. 

t  The  public  lands  still  unappropriated  and  unreserved,  that 
is,  open  to  settlement  and  farming  by  the  people,  July  i,  1908, 


THE  RURAL  SITU  A  TJON.  33 

ness  of  the  people  in  rushing  into  any  newly 
opened  territory  is  proof  of  how  deep  is  the 
significance  of  individual  ownership.  The  great 
majority  of  farms'''  are  operated  by  their 
owners,  3,713,371  farms  out  of  5,739,657;  by 
share  tenants,  1,273,366,  cash  tenants,  752,920. 
This  sense  of  independence  and  prospect  of  a 
large  future  has  been  an  incalculable  civilizing 
force  in  the  lonely  regions  of  our  great  America. 
And  the  farm  home  has  become  better  in  many 
ways  for  it. 

I.  Thus  it  has  remained  for  American  farm 
homes  to  become  the  loneliest  places  in  the  civil- 
ized world.  Yet  so  vast  is  our  wonderful 
domain  that  with  all  the  isolation  there  are 
nearly  six  millions  of  such  scattered  homes. 
More  than  one-third  f  of  all  work-people  in  the 
United  States  live  in  ones  and  twos  on  these 
farms,  ten  millions  of  farmers  and  helpers.  In 
their  villages  near  by  there  are  of  mechanics, 
merchants,  and  laborers  nearly  five  million 
more. 

For  all  of  these  people  on  the  farm,  or  cross- 
roads, mining,  lumbering,  or  fishing  village, 
there  is  the  absence  of  city  temptations  and  ex- 
are  754,886,286  acres.  From  1878  to  1908  there  were  88,945 
entries  or  purchases,  representing  about  that  number  of  fami- 
lies for  public  lands  alone. 

*  Census  Bulletin  237,  p.  6. 

t  U.  S.  Census  Population.  General  Tables  p.  7.  Total 
number  in  all  occupations  29,287,070,  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
10,438,219. 


34  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

citements,  but  also  the  lack  of  city  activities,  in- 
spirations, restraints  and  enforcement  of  law. 
And  there  are  many  evils  peculiar  to  the  country. 

The  farm  boy  and  girl  have  no  helpful  as- 
sociations except  schoolmates  in  winter  and  the 
Sunday-school  class  for  such  as  that  reaches. 
Do  we  realize  what  it  means  that  there  are  fully 
twenty-five  millions  of  such  lonely  young  peo- 
ple, now  with  minds  better  educated,  hungry  for 
books  but  whose  reading  is  largely  unsupplied 
and  unguarded?  Long  stretches  of  days  alone, 
uneventful  days,  when  the  bad  novel  the  boy 
gets  makes  worse  impressions  than  on  city  boys. 
His  few  companions  with  their  total  stock  of  a 
few  cheap  books  pass  to  him  the  evil  because 
the  good  does  not  occupy  or  preempt  the  ground. 

This  unoccupied  condition  is  the  real  peril  of 
the  farming  district.  Everything  intellectual, 
moral  and  spiritual  in  the  average  sparsely  set- 
tled community  is  largely  unoccupied  and  unde- 
veloped. And  what  evil  comes  is  weeds,  spon- 
taneous growths  of  the  sinful  because  the  good 
is  not  cultivated  diligently. 

So  time  hangs  h^eavily  on  the  young  man. 
Later  in  life  he  will  go  to  the  lodge  one  evening 
a  week  and  to  the  grange  occasionally,  for  there 
are  few  places  that  have  not  a  "  secret  order  "  of 
some  kind  or  an  association  or  farmers'  meeting 
occasionally.  But  there  are  six  nights  in  every 
week  and  even  Sunday  night  has,  in  many  places, 
irregular  services.    What  can  the  young  man  or 


THE  RUkAL  situation:  3^ 

the  wide-awake  boy  do  with  all  these  unoc- 
cupied nights?  He  will  not  in  these  days  go  to 
bed  at  "  candle-light  '*  and  he  may  not,  in  every 
case,  love  books  well  enough  to  read  and  prob- 
ably does  not  have  books  if  he  did  love  reading. 
The  country  schoolmaster  and  the  pastor  can 
tell  pathetic  tales  of  their  unsuccessful  efforts  to 
induce  many  a  plodding  farmer  to  buy  books, 
or  to  send  his  aspiring  children  to  college.  They 
succeed  in  some  cases  but  fail  often  even  to  have 
the  boy  released  from  farm  work  to  push  his  own 
way  to  an  education. 

The  country  church  too  often  is  planned  for 
the  tired  men  and  women  who  want  a  minimum 
of  church  meetings  and  activities.  The  super- 
abundant energies  of  the  young  people  are 
scarcely  touched.  Even  the  Sunday  meetings 
are  more  soothing  to  the  overworked  father  than 
inspiring  to  youth.  The  preaching  every  two 
weeks  gives  little  opportunity  for  extended 
ethical  instruction  and  ideals  of  living.  The 
religious  needs  of  the  people  cannot  be  met  by 
such  infrequent  discourses. 

Thus  the  child's  moral  education  and  training 
is  left  largely  to  the  country  home.  But  the 
Christian  home  is  usually  the  creation  of  a 
vigorous  church  and  requires  such  a  church  to 
maintain  it.  The  church  spiritually  weak  has 
homes  without  family  worship  or  religious 
education,  and  thus  the  young  people  of  the  farm 


36  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

or  little  village  are  exposed  to  peculiarly  strong 
temptations  unprepared. 

2.  The  actual  moral  conditions  of  many  open 
country  communities,  allowing  for  some  notable 
exceptions,  are  not  the  sweet  and  pure  innocence 
which  casual  visitors  glowingly  describe.  There 
are  sights  and  circumstances  which  sorely 
try  the  virtue  of  young  people  and  children. 
Animals,  especially  the  large  animals  of  the  farm 
and  village,  are  not  secluded  in  their  procreative 
times,  but  are  in  sight  of  the  excitable  imagina- 
tions and  immature  consciences  of  boys  and  girls. 
One  Christian  farmer  in  Maryland,  among  the 
few  of  thousands  I  have  observed,  was  alive  to 
this  peril  and  in  all  his  arrangements  he  was 
scrupulously  careful  to  keep  his  children  away 
from  such  scenes.  He  told  of  his  extreme  cau- 
tion even  with  his  son,  then  of  full  age,  and  that 
in  home  conversation  the  utmost  purity  was 
maintained.  It  was  beautiful  to  see  the  result  in 
the  sweet  refinement,  modest  womanhood  and 
manliness  of  his  children. 

But  this  is  sadly  exceptional.  Gross  and  amaz- 
ing stupidity  in  this  respect  marks  the  conduct 
of  many  nominally  Christian  farmers.  Their 
young  children  are  early  corrupted  in  their 
thoughts  by  these  sights,  and  with  so  little  be- 
sides to  divert  their  minds  the  effect  of  these 
exciting  suggestions  is  fearful  in  self-abuse  and 
far  worse.  A  recent  discussion  in  a  religious 
paper   of   these    influences,    in    which    pastors, 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


37 


school-teachers,  and  Christian  fathers  particip- 
ated, revealed  shocking  things.*  It  is  a  marvel 
that  so  many  escape  ruin,  other  influences  for- 
tunately coming  from  the  church  or  school  to 
save  them,  but  the  social  morality  in  many  rural 
districts  is  deplorable.  The  criminal  courts  of 
the  county  have  long  lists  of  these  crimes, 
though  only  a  few  reach  that  light,  and  social 
customs  are  disgustingly  free,  and  many  fall. 

One  naturally  hesitates  to  give  facts  of  these 
vices.  Any  one  can  gather  them  in  typical 
country  districts  remote  from  cities,  but  these 
very  farmers  who  are  so  wickedly  obtuse  hotly 
deny  that  any  evil  results  from  their  careless- 
ness. They  ought  to  inquire  of  country  physi- 
cians, of  wihom  many  are  intimate  friends  of  the 
writer,  and  learn  the  truth.  Young  men  after 
their  conversion  tell  their  pastors,  sorrowfully, 
of  customs  from  which  their  unwatchful  parents 
did  not  guard  them,  though  some  of  these  par- 
ents themselves  fell  by  these  perils.  In  one  vil- 
lage, not  so  bad  as  some,  nearly  a  dozen  of  the 
prominent  families  began  their  homes  in  shame. 
The  country  schoolhouse  and  its  surroundings 
exhibit  the  children's  impure  thoughts. 

There  is  wicked  carelessness  in  the  conversa- 
tion of  older  people.  Matters  concerning  ani- 
mals are  freely  discussed  with  the  children 
listening  and  tempted  to  indecencies.  The  father 
thinks  it  all  safe  to  talk  to  men  and  boys  when 
*  Sunday  School  Times. 


38  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

the  women  are  not  in  hearing.     But  here  the 
peril  is  greatest  of  all. 

"  Don't  send  my  boy  where  your  girl  can't  go, 
For  aboy'soragirl's  sin  is  sin,  you  know, 
And  my  baby  boy's  hands  are  as  clean  and  white, 
And  his  heart  as  pure  as  your  girl's  to-night." 

3.  Foolish  superstitions  are  not  confined  to  the 
country.  They  linger  long  even  in  great  cities. 
Few  sky-scrapers  or  hotels  have  any  "  thirteen  " 
rooms.  One  large  building  defied  the  supersti- 
tion and  the  "  thirteen  "  rooms  on  every  floor 
remained  vacant  though  scores  of  applicants 
came.  One  brave  man  occupied  the  only  such 
room  and  saw  the  other  rooms  renumbered 
"  12  A."  No  room  in  such  buildings  is  opened 
on  Friday  to  begin  business.  So  the  city  has  no 
stones  t©  cast  at  country  superstitions  for  the 
thirteen  and  Friday  notions  are  not  only  sense- 
less but  peculiar  for  dishonoring  Christ.  Fri- 
day, Good  Friday,  an  unlucky  day  for  the  world ! 
And  the  thirteenth  at  the  table  was  Christ  for 
he  sat  at  the  head  after  the  twelve  were  there! 
Some  farm  superstitions  have  at  least  a  show 
of  probability  in  sense  and  reason.  But  all  are 
destructive  of  real  trust  in  God,  and  of  wise 
reasoning  and  decision  about  important  concerns 
of  life.  How  demoralizing  to  real  character  it 
is  to  believe  in  the  good  luck  of  finding  four- 
leaved  clover,  or  horseshoes,  or  carrying  a 
rabbit's  foot  or  a  horse-chestnut  in  the  pocket; 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  3^ 

how  childish  the  man's  or  woman's  mind  fright- 
ened by  the  hoot  of  an  owl  or  the  howl  of  the 
dog.  There  are  a  great  number  of  weather  signs 
and  superstitions  just  as  unscientific  and  foolish, 
but  still  widely  current.  But  think  also  of 
watching  the  phases  of  the  moon  in  planting, 
and  other  astrological  notions  in  deciding  grave 
issues  of  life;  what  direful  things  will  happen 
because  they  saw  the  new  moon  over  the  wrong 
shoulder.  There  is  belief  in  fate  and  luck,  in 
fortune-tellers,  and  a  lingering  dread  of  re- 
pulsive old  hags,  who  are  not  always  unwilling 
to  be  feared  as  witches. 

All  these  are  notions  which  are  impossible  to 
reason  away  because  they  were  never  reasoned 
there,  but  which  paralyze  higher  character,  all 
real  education  and  moral  progress. 

Scientific  lectures  of  Agricultural  Depart- 
ments of  States  and  of  the  National  Government 
discoursing  of  better  seed  and  analysis  of  soils 
run  against  these  ancient  notions  in  disgust. 
Sunday-school  teachers  who  are  lifting  nobler 
ideals  find  them  serious  obstacles.  They  are  not 
amusing  but  fearful  and  subtle  inventions  of  the 
evil  one,  and  some  like  the  "  Friday  "  terror  an 
amazing  dishonor  to  Christ.  Is  it  not  astonish- 
ing that  these  bald  and  silly  heathenisms  still 
persist?  And  still  more  surprising  that  the 
Church  does  not  see  how  destructive  of  true 
religion  they  are !  After  all  our  progress  in 
culture  and  rational  Christianity  that  such  super- 


40 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 


stitious    fears    should    still    be    an    obstacle    to 
Christian  work  everywhere. 

4.  The  loneliness  of  the  farm  and  the  few 
contacts  with  strangers  make  the  child  there 
afraid  of  new  people.  He  shrinks  from  them 
painfully,  speaks  little  and  embarrassingly,  and 
misses  the  development  of  gifts  of  expression. 
This  serious  drawback  is  not  overcome  by 
church  and  school  in  many  cases.  Children  are 
crammed  with  knowledge  from  their  studies  but 
cannot  use  it  efifectively,  and  doubtless  many  a 
promising  character  is  driven  back  to  obscurity. 
This  is  another  sadly  undeveloped  asset  of 
country  Christianity. 

There  are  no  great  happenings  in  country  life. 
The  round  of  daily  duties  becomes  monotonous 
and  with  no  enthusiasms  of  nobler  pursuits  there 
comes  carelessness  of  little  things.  Slovenliness 
of  person  and  of  thinking  results,  and  much 
more,  but  that  so  often  God  has  some  splendid 
mother  here  and  there  or  some  earnest  worker 
who  saves  a  few  individuals  from  this  drifting, 
drifting  of  every  sort. 

5.  Infidel  arguments  against  the  Bible  and 
against  religious  convictions  reach  the  awaken- 
ing country  boy  with  a  strange  fascination. 
Their  boldness  and  assurance  excite  admiration 
and   their   freshness   is   a    delightful   sensation,* 

*  Sunday-School  Missionary,  July,  1909,  pp.  5,  6.  A  Sun. 
day-school  missionary  in  Washington  State  writes,  "  On  one 
of  my  trips  I  found  a  mother  and  quite  a  number  of  children 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  41 

where  so  few  things  out  of  the  humdrum  are 
said  or  done.  The  old  home  Hbrary  still  con- 
tains the  ancient  book  of  Thomas  Paine  and  the 
well-thumbed  lectures  of  Ingersoll.  There  are 
no  replies  at  hand  to  these  startling  and  ap- 
parently conclusive  arguments,  as  the  youthful 
thinker  regards  them,  for  if  he  ventures  to  ask 
the  pastor  concerning  them  he  receives  usually 
a  severe  general  rebuke  for  reading  such  books 
and  in  rarest  cases  only  a  patient  guidance  back 
to  the  truth.  The  plodding  and  careworn  father 
and  mother  sometimes  are  still  such  thinkers  as 
inspire  the  boy  to  bring  his  questionings  and 
doubts  to  them,  and  among  the  multitudes  lost 
to  faith  a  few  are  saved.  But  in  these  cases  of 
doubts  from  skeptical  books,  as  in  everything 
else  pertaining  to  helpful  religious  instruction 
and  training  in  the  country,  little  or  no  individ- 
ual work  is  being  done  where  it  might  be  done 
most  thoroughly.  When  these  country  boys  and 
girls  come  to  cities  they  are  rudely  jostled  out 
of  their  doubts  in  many  cases  by  the  discovery 

at  home  near  dinner-time.  She  said  she  was  in  favor  of  my 
work  but  her  husband  was  opposed  to  religious  things.  She 
however  invited  me  to  stay  and  I  found  him  a  pleasant  speak- 
ing man.  At  the  meal  he  said, '  We  don't  give  thanks  to  a 
mythical  being  here,  we  thank  the  hands  who  provided  it.' 
The  children  listened  eagerly  to  the  conversation.  One  little 
boy,  eight  years  old,  spoke  up,  *  Our  God  is  nature  ! '  "  To 
another  he  suggested  prayer,  but  that  man  said,  "  O  we  don't 
have  such  nonsense,  I  have  studied  the  Bible  thoroughly  and 
find  there  is  nothing  in  that." 


42  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

that  advanced  thought  has  long  ago  buried 
Paine  and  Ingersoll  into  obhvion.  But  the  child- 
hood faith  is  also  gone.  The  rural  church  and 
home  should  be  specially  alert  to  meet  this  peril 
in  an  environment  so  seriously  stimulating  its 
growth. 

6.  It  is  inspiring  to  find  rural  communities 
in  which  a  strong  church  has  created  a  new  and 
refined  condition  of  things  reaching  homes,  social 
customs,  and  general  life.  We  know  such 
splendid  churches  which  are  a  wonder  of  effi- 
ciency. Think  of  a  building  seating  six  hundred 
people  in  an  open  country  with  scarcely  a  house 
in  sight,  a  building  in  attractive  setting  and 
modern  appliances,  and  on  Sunday  morning  pro- 
cessions of  carriages  from  all  directions  fill  the 
ample  churchyard  and  the  people  crowd  the 
church.  A  Sunday-school  with  modern  ap- 
pliances, graded  lessons,  trained  teachers,  pre- 
cedes the  general  service  and  its  fine  singing, 
deep  earnestness,  and  excellent  results  stir  every 
heart.  There  are  many  such  churches  in  purely 
farming  districts. 

The  supreme  opportunity  of  the  church  in 
these  places  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  church 
determines  its  character,  moral,  social  and  in- 
tellectual. For  the  church  is  the  sum  of  all 
kinds  of  helpful  influences  there.  Just  as  the 
father  in  the  home  formerly  was  civil  ruler, 
priest,  teacher,  physician,  as  well  as  parent,  and 
when  the  Fifth  Commandment  enjoins  honor  to 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  43 

him  it  includes  honoring  all  these,  so  in  the 
sparsely  settled  country  is  the  church  social 
center,  intellectual  club,  entertainment  and  re- 
ligious guide  in  one. 

There  are  other  churches  which  show  great 
possibilities  half  developed  and  are  doing  much 
for  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  But  they  are  slow 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  modern  organiza- 
tion of  their  forces.  And  the  average  country 
church  is  yet  in  a  miserable  condition.  Slower 
than  the  slowest  ox-team,  long  ago  discarded 
in  all  but  a  few  sections,  with  slip-shod  organ- 
ization, no  financial  system,  no  interest  in  the 
Sunday-school,  and  holding  no  service  at  all  in 
the  slightest  rain  or  threatening  cloud.  Every 
possibility  of  good  in  the  people  and  in  the 
community  undeveloped,  this  country  church  is 
a  burden  to  its  officials  and  still  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  whole.  Men  well  acquainted  with 
the  country  churches  of  great  States  report  that 
they  do  not  know  of  any  that  are  aggressive. 
Some  of  these  churches  are  in  a  combination  or 
group  miles  apart  with  services  every  fortnight 
or  once  in  three  weeks  if  the  weather  is  fair. 
They  are  financially  in  chaos  and  raise  so  little 
money  that  they  are  limited  to  such  scanty  pas- 
toral care.  A  few  such  churches  have  the  en- 
tire time  of  a  pastor  but  he  gives  one  service  a 
week,  no  prayer  meeting,  no  Sunday-school  in 
winter,  and  what  shall  be  thought  of  such  a  man  ? 

7.  Petty  crimes  of  violence,  thieving,  and  gross 


44  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

drunkenness  where  they  prevail  are  due  to  the 
absence  of  law  enforcement.*  The  saloon,  fort- 
unately, is  driven  out  of  farming  regions  alto- 
gether in  many  States,  and  is  rapidly  going  out 
of  others,  but  where  it  still  exists  it  is  in  its 
worst  form.  There  country  dances,  wild  and 
demoralizing,  add  to  current  evils. 

It  is  a  misfortune  also  that  the  settled  condi- 
tions in  farm  life  leave  so  little  to  develop  cour- 
age or  bold  initiative.  In  the  early  pioneer  times 
the  hunting  of  wild  animals,  the  fearful  Indian 
wars,  and  other  perils  exercised  splendid  courage. 
What  can  be  done  in  the  humdrum  of  the  pres- 
ent day  to  compensate  for  this  loss  of  stimulus  to 
nobler  character? 

On  the  other  hand  the  introduction  of  much 
machinery  on  the  farm  has  given  a  striking 
intellectual  quickening.  Work  with  whirring 
wheels,  the  puffing  and  scream  of  a  steam  engine, 
is  always  fascinating  to  men  and  boys  and  a 
more  intense  atmosphere  of  activity  comes  with 
the  new  and  better  mower  and  reaper,  the  steam 
thresher,  the  latest  planter,  and  numerous  other 
machines  like  incubators,  cream  separators,  and 
other  appliances. 

8.  The  country  store  is  still  a  unique  civiliz- 

*  "  Intemperance  is  largely  the  result  of  the  barrenness  of 
farm  life,  particularly  of  the  lot  of  the  hired  man  " — Report 
of  U.  S.  Commission  on  Country  Life,  p.  44.  The  same 
monotony  reacts  toward  other  excesses  of  vice  and  crime 
■when  young  and  vigorous  life  is  starving  for  sensations  or 
activities. 


THE  RURAL  SITU  ATI  01^.  4^ 

ing  or  a  demoralizing  social  center,  and  these 
stores  range  all  the  way  from  a  dirty,  low-ceil- 
inged,  shabbily-kept  little  shop,  often  with  a 
liquor  attachment,  to  the  ambitious  country  de- 
partment store  with  attractions  copied  from  the 
city.  The  store  is  often  also  the  Post-office,  un- 
less rural  free  delivery  has  come,  and  then  its 
'power  is  increased.  All  the  local  characters  are 
there  sitting  on  the  counter  or  huddling  about 
the  stove,  the  news  of  all  the  country  round  is 
gathered  and  discussed,  notices  of  sales  and 
church  festivals  are  posted  and  read  over  and 
over.  Here  is  an  opportunity  which  some  earn- 
est men  who  are  proprietors  have  used  helpfully 
for  good. 

9.  Farm  homes  vary  as  widely  as  do  churches 
and  stores.  There  are  refined  Christian  fathers 
and  mothers  who  stock  their  shelves  with  books 
and  magazines,  turn  their  best  room  into  a  me- 
chanic's shop  with  all  kinds  of  tools  for  the 
boys,  have  a  piano  or  organ,  excellent  pictures, 
bright  games,  and  every  possible  attraction  for 
happy  children  growing  into  beautiful  character. 
One  would  think  that  every  American  parent 
would  recognize  that  the  absence  of  ordinary 
town  and  city  attractions  really  enjoined  upon 
them  the  duty  of  making  their  homes  compensate 
childhood  for  such  a  loss,  but  there  are  houses, 
not  homes,  whose  wholly  unadorned,  rudely 
furnished  rooms  are  hardly  as  comfortable  as 
some  stables  for  the  blooded  stock.     As  Caesar 


46  kURAL  CHRlST£:^DOM. 

said  of  Herod  the  Great,  "  One  would  better  be 
Herod's  hog  than  his  wife,  for  as  a  nominal  Jew 
he  would  not  kill  a  hog,"  so  one  would  fare  bet- 
ter from  some  sodden,  plodding,  stingy  farmer 
as  his  horse  than  as  his  child. 

•10.  This  preliminary  survey,  however,  should 
emphasize  and  re-emphasize  the  unoccupied  re- 
ligious condition  of  the  open  country  rather  than 
any  condition  of  settled  evils.  There  are  rank 
weeds  growing  but  it  is  because  the  soil  is  not 
full  of  good  seed.  There  is  no  reason  for  dis- 
couragement, nor  for  discounting  the  value  of 
the  country  as  the  field  for  producing  finest 
character  and  Christian  leaders  when  it  is  wisely 
worked.  It  is  a  soil  which  though  hardened  by 
some  evils  allowed  to  troop  over  it,  has  yet  few 
of  the  throngs  of  evils  of  the  city;  though 
it  is  not  deepened  by  meditation  and  prayer  as 
it  may  be,  is  by  no  means  made  shallow  by  petty 
whims  of  appetite  and  fashion;  it  is  still  simple, 
natural,  genuine  for  the  most  part;  and  it  is 
unoccupied  and  free  from  crowding  of  thorns 
of  wild  greed,  passion,  revelries  and  pleasures. 

It  is  in  the  green  and  not  in  the  sere  and  yel- 
low leaf  as  so  much  of  city  life  has  become.  It  is 
not  surfeited  with  rounds  of  entertainments  or 
attempts  at  them,  with  intellectual  feasts,  and 
then  left  with  appetites  for  all  simple  and  good 
things  gone.  In  the  country  there  is  yet  hunger 
for  the  true  and  the  pure  in  simple  adornment. 

Much  light  on  all  country  conditions  is  thrown 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  47 

by  former  President  Roosevelt's  Commission  on 
Country  Life,  which  made  its  report  to  him  in 
Feb.,  1909.*  This  able  body  of  experts  in  Agri- 
culture and  Economics  held  hearings  in  about 
thirty  States  and  received  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  answers  to  a  series  of  ques- 
tions about  rural  life,  and  a  large  volume  of  in- 
formation by  letters  and  special  reports.  They 
report  that  the  level  of  country  well-being  is 
higher  than  ever  before ;  that  country  population 
is  increasing  in  wealth  and  multiplying  the  con- 
veniences of  living. 

The  Commission  gives  expression  to  their 
wishes  and  needs  as  the  farmers  voice  them,  and 
everywhere  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  need  of 
good  roads;  almost  every  part  of  the  country  is 
awaking  to  this  as  the  first  need.  Equal  em- 
phasis is  laid  upon  the  need  of  more  effective 
schools  and  a  training  in  them  for  the  farm  rather 
than  away  from  it.  They  point  to  the  imme- 
diate necessity  of  fundamental  changes.  Then 
they  want  the  extension  of  rural  free  delivery  of 
mails,  of  parcels  post,  and  wherever  they  have 
discussed  it  of  postal  savings  banks.  Local  com- 
mercial organizations  for  buying  and  selling  by 
the  farmers  themselves  are  being  widely  organized. 

The  Commission  earnestly  urges  more  atten- 
tion to  health  and  sanitation.  The  country  has 
not  organized  to  prevent  typhoid  fever  and  other 

*  United  States  Senate  Document  705  contains  the  Report 
of  the  National  Commission  on  Country  Life. 


48  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

diseases.  There  is  great  difficulty  also  about  farm 
labor,  difficulty  in  acquiring  ownership  of  farm 
lands,  and  unsatisfactory  systems  of  tenantry. 

"  In  general  the  country  needs  Communication, 
Education,  Organization."  For  moral  and  spirit- 
ual work,  also,  the  country  is  yet  virgin  soil. 
There  are  better  equipped  pastors  and  teachers 
willing  to  go  and  spend  their  lives  in  country 
pastorates,  and  with  the  splendid  future  coming 
to  rural  districts  it  is  certain  that  still  more 
capable  men  will  enter  these  fields.  Let  us  re- 
member Christ's  own  wonderful  work  in  country 
places  and  all  the  inspiring  aspects  of  it  as  a 
Christian  opportunity. 

II.  Beyond  these  more  thickly  settled  rural 
communities  there  are  yet  vast  stretches  of  coun- 
try so  sparsely  inhabited  that  even  the  smallest  be- 
ginning of  church  organization  is  thought  im- 
practicable. It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  there 
are  tens  of  thousands  of  these  farm  homes  which 
are  miles  apart  and  only  the  cross-roads  country 
store  and  blacksmith  shop  with  an  occasional  tav- 
ern are  in  closer  proximity,  being  the  only  groups 
of  houses  in  whole  counties  or  large  sections  of 
counties  in  many  States.  Here  the  Sunday- 
school  missionary  has  accomplished  his  great 
work  gathering  the  few  children  and  parents 
into  schools  for  Bible  instruction.  They  have 
become  in  many  cases  centers  of  religious  awak- 
ening and  moral  power.  The  American  Sunday- 
school  Union  with  about  250  such  missionaries 


THE  R  URAL  SI TUA  TION,  40 

at  work  has  penetrated  into  the  farthest  pioneer 
regions,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Bap- 
tists, the  Congregationalists,  the  Methodists, 
and  other  denominations  are  organizing  in  these 
strictly  farm  regions  thousands  of  little  Sunday- 
schools,  the  only  religious  service  for  miles  for 
these  lonely  homes.  Probably  25,000  to  30,000 
such  farming  regions  are  still  to  be  reached  by 
religious  effort  almost  wholly  in  the  form  of 
Sunday-schools. 

We  can  only  partially  imagine  how  these  Sun- 
day-schools are  welcomed  by  the  isolated  pioneer 
family.  In  many  of  them  the  parents  came  from 
the  older  States  and  had  enjoyed  the  privileges 
of  church  life  from  childhood.  Now  for  twenty 
years  in  some  cases,  as  the  writer  knows  from 
personal  acquaintance  with  these  regions,  they 
have  not  heard  a  sermon  preached  nor  partici- 
pated in  a  religious  meeting!  Can  you  see  that 
little  group  of  ten  or  at  most  twenty,  assembled 
after  many  miles  of  travel,  and  calling  themselves 
a  Sunday-school  with  all  the  officers  regularly 
chosen,  singing  the  sweet  old  hymns  of  former 
years,  engaging  together  in  prayer,  Bible  reading 
and  study?  But  you  cannot  see  the  thrilling 
memories  awakened  in  those  hearts  nor  the  great 
joy  of  the  humble  service. 

Many  of  these  Sunday-schools  will  continue 
for  a  generation — one  (a  Union  school)  has  ex- 
isted in  Pennsylvania  for  over  seventy-five  years 
— but  some,  by  the  boom  of  the  neighborhood 


^O  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

bringing  more  people,  will  mature  into  churches, 
and  in  the  same  community  several  churches. 
There  is  rich  opportunity  for  Christian  organiza- 
tion but  it  must  have  regard  to  the  peculiar  ob- 
stacles and  difficulties  of  the  rural  situation,  the 
unique  advantages  for  spiritual  work  it  affords, 
the  creation  of  Christian  homes  and  the  civic 
spirit,  and  then  co-operate  with  them.  Our  prob- 
lem is  how  to  achieve  such  organization  and 
results,  but  it  is  a  problem  largely  on  the  way  to 
solution  by  notably  successful  sections  of  Amer- 
ican country  life. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE   TOWN    PROBLEM. 


The  town*  with  clearly  defined  rural  condi- 
tions contains  probably  from  five  hundred  to  five 
thousand  people.  Some  larger  towns  or  small 
cities  remote  from  the  influence  of  a  metropolis 
or  great  city  maintain  country  characteristics  up 
to  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  people  and  even 
beyond. 

The  United  States  Census  marks  ofif  places  as 
cities  at  8,000  population  and  over,  but  some 
States  like  Massachusetts  and  Ohio  wisely  incor- 
porate with  city  charter  at  a  5,000  minimum,  and 
below  that  in  Ohio.  These  small  cities,  however, 
are  no  less  rural  communities  in  every  respect. 

We  will  do  well  to  call  a  place  rural  at  five 
thousand  down  and  allow  for  the  few  exceptions 
above  that  number.  There  are  probably  nearly 
ten  thousand  such  towns  in  America  containing 

*  Throughout  this  book  we  use  the  word  "town  ''  as  signify- 
ing such  a  collection  of  houses  whether  incorporated  as 
village  or  city,  or  unincorporated.  In  some  States  the  word 
"town"  is  popularly  used  to  designate  a  township  which  is  a 
subdivision  of  a  county.  It  seems  better  uniformly  to  call 
that  subdivision  of  county  a  township,  the  hamlet  a  town. 
51 


^2  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

twelve  millions  of  people.  If  these  towns  can 
be  made  powerful  centers  of  Christianizing  in- 
fluences they  will  go  far  toward  curing  our  na- 
tional ills.  These  towns  send  their  best  brains 
into  the  cities  and  if  they  always  sent  mature 
Christian  characters  what  a  spiritual  and  moral 
quickening  would  come  to  the  outworn,  pre- 
maturely decaying  life  of  great  cities !  The  work 
of  pastors  and  Christian  teachers  in  the  town 
may  often  be  discouraging,  but  probably  it  is  the 
farthest  reaching  in  the  world  to-day. 

The  town  as  a  field  for  Christian  effort  has 
undoubtedly  many  perplexing  difficulties.  We 
will  not  underestimate  them  in  our  survey  now, 
though,  as  might  be  expected.  Christian  workers 
there  often  exaggerate  them  and  are  unduly  dis- 
couraged. 

I.  The  temptations  to  social  frivolities  are 
among  the  chief  obstacles  to  Christian  work  in 
the  town.  The  lack  of  exacting  business  activ- 
ities and  of  great  intellectual  movements  and 
associations  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  always 
struggling  church  become  burdensome  and  un- 
attractive, leaves  a  free  field  for  social  leaders: 
and  they  exhibit  a  diligence  worthy  of  the  best 
cause.  All  through  the  Fall  and  Winter  there  are 
rounds  of  euchre  parties,  whist  parties,  recep- 
tions, dances,  and  family  entertainments.  These 
are  topics  of  unending  small  talk  and  engender 
the  demoralizing  gossip,  jealousies,  envies  and 
heart-burnings   always   following  social  dissipa- 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


S3 


tion.  The  grip  of  these  petty  pleasures  upon  the 
popular  mind  is  too  strong  for  announcement  of 
revival  meetings  to  bring  many  outsiders,  and 
even  church  members  have  the  parties  during  the 
meetings ;  lectures  of  the  best  sort  for  culture  and 
inspiration  are  deserted ;  even  the  church  festival 
is  leading  a  precarious  existence,  and  movements 
for  the  young  people's  better  activities  seem 
hopeless. 

Ordinary  church  work  which  simply  preaches 
regulation  sermons  on  Sunday,  holds  an  old  time 
Sunday-school,  and  a  dreary  mid-week  prayer- 
meeting  is  unable  to  cope  with  the  social  swirl. 
Announcing  revival  meetings  formerly  would  set 
the  town  astir  and  bring  the  crowds,  but  one 
can  go  to  many  now  and  not  find  an  unsaved  per- 
son present.  And  unless  the  meetings  have  been 
given  special  preparation,  unusually  good  singing 
provided,  and  supported  by  a  systematic  personal 
work  and  with  fine  advertising,  the  "  parties '' 
will  have  more  people  than  the  meetings.  But 
there  are  modern  churches  in  some  of  these  towns 
which  have  learned  how  to  capture  even  the 
social  forces. 

2.  An  almost  paralyzing  difficulty  is  the  re- 
moval to  cities  of  the  best  young  men  and  some 
of  the  best  young  women  of  town  churches. 
The  pastor  may  train  some  fine  leaders  but  about 
the  time  they  become  helpful,  the  call  of  the  city 
is  irresistible.  They  go  and  no  man  quite  as 
able  or   popular   now   remains.     What   can   be 


54  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

done  ?  What  is  the  use  ?  Well,  it  should  be  com- 
forting to  the  pastor,  for  love  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  far  larger  than  any  church,  to  know  that 
he  has  sent  splendid  reenforcement  to  the  strug- 
gling city  church,  and  before  he  leaves  the 
young  man  he  should  see  to  placing  him  in  the 
largest  opportunity  in  the  city.  This  pastor  can 
follow  him  by  letter,  if  not  by  visit,  to  a  brother 
pastor  and  secure  the  best  introduction  to  church 
work  for  him.  In  the  final  award  there  will 
doubtless  come  rich  rewards  to  many  an  un- 
known country  pastor  for  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  some  great  city  churches.  So  did  that 
wonderful  little  Sunday-school  in  Connecticut, 
never  more  than  fifty  enrollment,  whose  superin- 
tendent, Henry  P.  Haven,  it  was,  that  Dr.  Trum- 
bull called  the  '*  Model  Superintendent,"  send  to 
the  world  more  than  forty  notable  College  Presi- 
dents, missionaries,  pastors  and  Christian  lay- 
men of  national  prominence ;  so  have  the  very 
flower  of  American  men  of  letters,  of  Christian 
statesmen,  reformers,  and  Church  leaders  been 
trained  in  the  small  town. 

But  the  pastor  may  discover  others  to  train 
and  send  forth..  That  same  small  town  holds 
probably  a  score  of  young  boys  of  equally  great 
promise. 

3.  Then  there  is  the  lack  of  higher  ideals  of 
life  which  with  all  its  sins  and  follies  the  city 
holds,  and  the  lack  of  city  inspirations  to  act- 
ivity.   These  are  difficulties  which  too  often  are 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  55 

chronic  in  the  Church  itself.  The  leaders  have 
lost  lofty  standards  and  intense  life  in  the  Church 
if  they  ever  had  them.  They  have  lost  the  first 
essentials  to  forward  movements. 

4.  The  general  decadence  of  many  American 
towns  is  a  terrible  fact.  They  are  dying  at  the 
top,  in  nobler  morals,  in  Church  influence,  in 
potent  public  sentiment  and  examples  of  ag- 
gressively good  men  and  women.  The  laxity  of 
law  enforcement  against  vices  and  petty  crimes 
results  in  weakening  public  moral  sentiment.  It 
springs  from  flabby  public  character  and  it  re- 
acts to  render  it  worse.  There  is  consequently  a 
deplorable  amount  of  social  immorality  almost 
open  and  unrebuked.  The  "  kept  woman "  is 
well  known  and  the  man  who  supports  her  bet- 
ter than  his  lawful  wife,  though  he  yet  lives  with 
the  latter,  is  readily  pointed  out,  for  there  are 
several  of  his  beastly  tribe  in  many  a  town. 
These  men  are  not  socially  ostracized  and  they 
freely  talk  about  their  "  woman,"  as  in  an  instance 
which  occurred  while  this  page  was  being  writ- 
ten. In  one  town  the  chief  citizen  in  authority 
was  known  as  such  a  social  leper  but  elected  and 
re-elected  to  his  ofiice.  Both  these  towns  are  in 
an  older  State  and  have  fairly  good  churches 
but  only  doing  humdrum  work.  In  many  towns 
there  are  well-known  married  women  who  re- 
ceive other  men,  and  one  church  had  a  vile  wo- 
man who  gave  socials  and  put  corrupting  books 
into  young  people's  hands.     These  things  are  pub- 


£$  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

He  gossip  but  the  church  seldom  has  moral 
force  enough  to  expel  these  people  or  even  se- 
riously to  disturb  them  in  their  sins.  There  is 
very  little  indignation  against  them. 

At  times  these  evils  break  out  in  a  hideous 
murder.  But  still  the  parents  are  very  lax  in 
guarding  their  daughters  in  these  towns.  At 
the  railroad  station  when  the  trains  arrive  and 
at  village  corners  a  wild  set  of  girls  from  four- 
teen to  twenty  years  of  age  are  a  common  sight. 
Late  at  night  they  are  still  roaming  the  streets 
and  young  men  take  liberties  with  them  that  are 
rude  and  demoralizing.  A  pious  priest  hotly  ex- 
horted his  people  on  the  subject,  "  You  will  not 
go  to  bed  without  making  sure  that  your  cow  is 
in  the  stall  but  your  daughters  are  in  the  streets 
until  midnight  while  you  sleep  unconcernedly." 
But  there  was  no  improvement  even  after  such 
a  sermon. 

5.  The  destruction  of  the  former  small  in- 
dustries of  many  thriving  towns  by  great 
"  trusts  "  is  a  serious  loss  in  far  more  than  its  fi- 
nancial crippling.  It  has  driven  out  the  intelligent 
mechanic,  who  is  usually  there  the  best  man  in 
the  local  church.  Other  factories,  fortunately, 
are  coming,  like  canning,  silk  manufactories, 
shirts,  box  and  basket  making,  and  minor  articles. 
These  require  some  skilled  labor  but  do  not  fill 
the  place  of  the  wood-working  and  iron-work- 
ing shops  closed.  And  these  new  factories  em- 
ploy girls  and  women  and  bring  the  perils  of 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


57 


child  labor.  Yet  this  may  be  guarded,  and  the 
great  advantage  which  the  city  stir  of  activity 
gives,  more  than  compensates  for  the  new  diffi- 
culties of  the  situation.  In  New  England  the  fac- 
tory has  brought  the  French  family  from  Canada 
with  its  religion,  and  other  foreign  races  and  these 
present  special  problems.  But  all  this  is  better 
than  the  dry  rot  of  the  town  deserted  by  me- 
chanics and  men  of  ability.  Christian  citizens 
for  every  moral  and  economic  reason  should  en- 
courage industries  and  then  cultivate  a  public 
sentiment  that  will  keep  them  morally  clean. 

6.  Another  serious  difficulty  in  Christian  work 
in  the  town  is  the  crowding  of  weak  churches  and 
church  organizations.  The  larger  population 
now  more  accessible  even  of  the  small  town,  has 
tempted  denomination  after  denomination  to 
build  a  church.  And  all  are  weak,  and  this  is 
what  makes  this  crowding  a  calamity.  Not  half 
the  town  is  reached  by  all  the  churches  and  they 
struggle  with  debts  and  financial  chaos,  resort- 
ing to  humiliating  begging  and  demoralizing  en- 
terprises. The  pastors  are  underpaid  and  for 
months  unpaid.  Their  self-respect  is  weakened 
and  their  influence  and  spirit  broken.  The  very 
mention  of  the  church  becomes  painful  and  griev- 
ously burdensome.  Bishop  Cranston  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  tells  of  a  village  In 
the  West  of  about  eight  hundred  people  with 
thirteen  churches!  A  woman  was  converted  in 
one  of  the  churches  there,  and  the  good  pastor 


58  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

said  in  his  hearty  way  of  congratulating  her, 
"  Now,  Mrs.  S.,  you  are  happily  a  Christian  and 
your  first  duty  is  to  join  one  of  the  churches  in 
this  town.  We  shall  be  glad  to  welcome  you  to 
the  fellowship  of  the  church  in  which  you  found 
Christ  but  I  would  not  unduly  urge  you  to  join. 
You  shall  be  free  to  go  into  the  church  of  your 
choice  and  conscientious  convictions."  Between 
the  joyful  tears  on  her  face  the  good  woman  re- 
plied, "  The  church  which  I  want  to  join  is  not 
numbered  among  the  churches  of  this  town." 

This  is  an  extreme  crowding  but  it  is  easy  to 
find  many  towns  of  one  thousand  people  in  which 
there  are  five  churches.  In  a  town  of  less  than 
two  thousand,  of  which  the  writer  knows  inti- 
mately, there  were  six  churches  and  an  actual 
enumeration  by  all  the  pastors  showed  less  than 
six  hundred  members  in  all  of  them,  and  about 
six  hundred  and  fifty  in  all  the  Sunday-schools, 
leaving  about  fourteen  hundred  unreached  even 
by  Christmas  time  enrollment. 

The  crowding  and  the  neglect  go  together. 
The  narrowly  circumscribed  pastor  has  a  horror 
of  being  called  a  proselyter,  and  the  "  world  "  has 
the  largest  number,  visited  by  no  church  official 
nor  any  organized  effort.  The  Federation  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  a  newly  or- 
ganized and  officially  representative  body  of  all 
denominations,  is  now  courageously  facing  this 
condition  of  things  so  hurtful  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  especially  when  the  newer  states  have  so 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  5^ 

many  towns  with  no  church  at  all.  There  is 
hope  for  the  pastor  with  no  elbow  room  in  his 
tiny  parish. 

These  difficulties  summed  up  are  formidable 
but  by  no  means  unconquerable.  Many  instances 
of  better  towns  show  the  way  out. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  bright  side  and  measure 
the  advantages  for  Christian  work  in  the  town. 

1.  The  town  has  the  advantage  of  some  civic 
organization  of  government.  In  this  is  a  great 
gain  over  the  cross-roads  village  and  farm  region. 
There  is  some  law  enforcement  against  crimes 
and  a  somewhat  higher  standard  of  morality. 
There  is  protection  from  fire  and  petty  thieving. 
But  towns  should  develop  their  local  government 
more  effectively  so  that  a  policeman  is  within 
call  day  or  night,  rowdyism  on  the  streets  im- 
possible, and  real  protection  given  against  bur- 
glars and  personal  assault. 

2.  The  larger  accessible  population  gives  the 
greater  opportunity.  The  members  of  town 
churches  are  nearer  to  their  houses  of  worship 
than  is  possible  even  in  cities,  and  good  roads 
open  the  way  for  a  larger  number  of  meetings 
and  closer  fellowship.  The  town  church  has 
the  small  territory,  all  the  forces  at  hand,  and 
may  cultivate  intensively  and  richly. 

3.  Better  schools  and  some  public  libraries 
bring  larger  foundations  for  Christian  work. 
Every  increase  of  general  intelligence  clears 
away  some  obstacles  and  should  stir  the   church 


6o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

to  meet  it  with  broader  plans,  better  services, 
and  richer  helpfulness  in  every  way. 

4.  Better  homes  exist  than  the  farm-houses, 
and  there  is  higher  culture  and  refinement.  These 
invite  plans  for  Christian  hospitality,  Associa- 
tions like  the  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific 
Circle,  literary  and  debating  clubs,  and  elevating 
social  gatherings. 

5.  The  peculiar  temptations  of  the  farm  due 
to  loneliness  and  exciting  sights  are  not  in  the 
town  and  the  great  temptations  of  the  city  are 
unknown.  What  a  field  for  aggressive  plowing 
and  sowing  and  cultivating  in  Christ's  name! 

We  may  now  fairly  balance  advantages  and 
difficulties  in  the  town,  and  justly  realize  the 
great  encouragement  that  remains.  But  there 
must  be  the  modern  spirit  for  adequate  organiz- 
ation, bold  ventures,  and  self-sacrificing  efforts. 
We  cannot  win  with  stage  coaches,  tallow 
candles,  and  ox  teams  in  church  movements 
when  all  business  goes  by  steam,  electricity,  and 
soon  by  flying  machines. 

Usually  the  best  place  to  begin  the  new  life 
of  the  town  is  in  repairing,  modernizing,  and 
beautifying  the  church  building,  or  in  wisely 
erecting  a  fine  new  one.*  If  this  is  financiallv 
impossible  for  the  time,  there  is  still  much  phys- 
ical renovating  possible  at  trifling  expense  and 
gratuitous  labor  usually  to  be  had   in  a   town. 

*  See  Section  III,  for  many  instances  and  further  sugges- 
tions for  the  country  church. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION,  5i 

But  too  much  dependence  may  be  placed  upon 
the  attractive  power  of  a  new  building.  It  must 
be  simply  the  inauguration  of  a  new  attractive- 
ness of  spiritual,  intellectual,  moral,  and  social 
service  for  all  the  people.  In  many  a  magnificent 
structure  lies  a  dead  church,  and  a  grand  tomb 
soon  ceases  to  draw  living  men.  But  both  the 
beautiful  temple  and  the  still  more  beautiful 
spiritual  organization  may  go  together  in  ever 
widening  power. 


CHAPTER   V. 

TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES  OF  SPECIAL  CHARACTER. 

The  typical  country  town*  is  modified  in  some 
cases  by  special  features,  better  or  worse,  than 
the  ordinary.  These  features  present  new  con- 
ditions which  the  people  of  these  towns  should 
clearly  differentiate,  though  in  general  character- 
istics these  special  towns  are  very  similar  to  all 
others  we  have  described.  Let  us  not  fall  into 
the  easy  snare  of  thinking  any  particular  field 
strangely  peculiar  in  its  difficulties. 

The  county  seat,  the  factory  town,  the  railroad 
town,  the  mining  town,  the  fishing  or  sailor  vil- 
lage, and  the  college  or  seminary  town  are  the 
special  types  we  may  find  in  large  numbers  in 
the  aggregate  throughout  America. 

The  likenesses  of  towns  generally  are  greater 
and  more  numerous  than  the  differences.  And  it 
is  a  wise  philosophy  which  begins  by  studying 
points  of  similarity  whether  we  seek  to  measure 
men  or  things.     All  men  are  alike  in  many  par- 

*  See  note,  Chap.  IV.     By  "  town  "  we  mean  the  hamlet  or 
village  but  larger  in  size,  not  the  township. 
62 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


63 


ticulars.  Even  so  angular  and  peculiar  a  char- 
acter as  Abraham  Lincoln  is  like  millions  in  be- 
ing of  Anglo-Saxon  descent,  in  being  a  true 
American,  a  Westerner,  a  Christian  politician, 
lawyer,  and  patriot,  a  home  educated  man.  Even 
in  his  supposed  eccentricities  of  loving  a  humor- 
ous story,  of  tender-heartedness,  keen  v^it  in 
repartee,  he  is  one  of  multitudes.  We  can  best 
understand  him  in  his  individuality  after  we  see 
the  many  things  in  which  he  was  one  of  a  large 
type.  So  the  factory  town  or  the  college  town 
and  the  others  have  the  same  simplicity  of  life, 
the  greater  prominence  of  the  church  as  a  social 
center,  the  lack  of  city  intensity  and  strenuous- 
ness  of  activity,  and  even  in  college  towns  the 
lack  of  some  of  the  high  ideals  which  compen- 
sate in  cities  for  so  much  that  is  disheartening. 
College  towns,  however,  stand  in  the  best  class 
of  fields  for  aggressive  Christian  work. 

The  perplexities  of  the  ordinary  town  problem 
are  also  here.  The  vices  and  sins,  the  flow  of 
gossip,  the  weakness  of  church  influence,  and 
the  other  limitations  we  have  mentioned  are  in 
these  towns  also.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  is 
specially  of  importance  to  provide  for  in  Christ- 
ianizing. 

I.  The  county  seat  town  in  the  larger  states 
is  usually  a  busy  center  of  population.  Where 
the  saloon  still  reigns,  criminal  court  is  fre- 
quently convened  and  thither  flock  the  politicians, 
the  criminal  classes,  and  the  bad  women,  several 


64  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

times  a  year  for  a  week  or  two.  There  is  an 
atmosphere  of  sensational  life  constantly  felt  and 
a  stimulated  business  activity.  But  the  church 
there  may  share  in  this  intenser  life  unless  the 
pastor  yields  to  the  desire  of  some  of  his  men  to 
be  free  during  court  sessions  from  church  meet- 
ings to  pursue  gain  unhindered.  It  is  really 
the  church's  opportunity  as  many  fine  pastors 
have  shown.  The  sensational  stir  is  better  than 
steady  decadence  or  deadening  slowness.  If  the 
churches  in  these  county  seats  were  aggressive 
and  met  the  visitors  with  attractive  religious 
services,  open  church,  and  personal  work  as  busi- 
ness houses  meet  them  with  newly-decorated 
stores,  new  goods,  and  specially  drawing  bar- 
gains, the  churches  would  accomplish  splendid 
results  from  what  are  often  regarded  as  unfav- 
orable conditions. 

2.  The  small  factory  town  in  many  sections, 
except  New  England,  still  has  an  almost  solid 
American  or  American-born  population.*  The 
factory  is  often  under  the  wise  management  of  a 
conscientious  employer  whose  regulations  and 
oversight  prevent  vice  and  provide  helpful  en- 
vironment. The  stir  of  machinery  is  a  stimulus 
to  young  and  old,  and  where  the  saloon  has  gone, 
some  of  these  manufacturing  towns  and  villages 
are    ideal    fields    for   best    Christian    work.      In 

*  This  is  changed  in  cities.  The  factory  village  or  hamlet 
is  also  receiving  some  immigrants  but  the  proportion  is  yet 
small. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


65 


many  instances  too,  a  vigorous  church  is  ready 
for  the  opportunity  at  least  in  part.  But  it  is 
well  known  that  in  other  factory  towns  the  con- 
ditions are  especially  bad  because  of  lax  or  even 
wicked  management  of  the  establishment,  be- 
cause of  the  saloon,  loose  home  restraints,  and 
the  unclean  streets  at  night.  Yet  here  the  church 
could  triumph  if  vigorously  led  and  organized. 
Good  Christians  as  citizens  could  reform  the 
town  and  then  the  church  might  follow  with  a 
mighty  revival.  The  very  magnitude  of  the  ob- 
stacles should  concentrate  spiritual  forces  and  the 
wickedness  of  the  people  stimulate-  every  effort 
to  save  them. 

Careful  students*  of  our  changing  conditions 
are  reasoning  that  factories  will  return  in  large 
numbers  to  the  small  city,  the  town  and  hamlet. 
The  rents  and  rapidly  growing  value  of  the 
larger  city  lots  enormously  increase  expenses 
in  these  cities  for  all  factory  purposes,  while  the 
better  sanitary  conditions  and  more  modern 
buildings  possible  in  towns,  the  somewhat  lower 
wages  paid,  and  the  freedom  from  dominating 
labor  unions  have  attracted  many  capitalists  to 
the  town.  It  is  common  observation  that 
in  the  older  states  these  towns  are  recently  crowd- 
ing with  many  kinds  of  manufacturing  plants 
large  and  small.  It  seems  plausible  that  this  trend 
will  grow  in  a  self-regulating  way  to  develop 
many  towns  moderately  or  to  a  size  still  retaining 
*  Wilbert  L.  Anderson  in  "  The  Country  Town." 


66  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

the  favorable  conditions,  instead  of  congesting 
a  few  to  become  cities.  The  rural  factory  town, 
therefore,  will  become  a  large  element  in  the 
country  situation  for  the  Christian  leader  and 
moral  reformer  to  consider.  It  is  fortunate  that 
state  laws  on  factory  inspection  are  becoming 
more  effective  and  practical ;  that  child  labor  bids 
fair  to  be  under  wiser  and  more  humane  regula- 
tions in  the  near  future,  because  of  the  agitation 
upon  that  subject  and  the  tender  national  con- 
science upon  it  being  developed ;  and  that  the 
"  welfare "  movement  among  capitalists  them- 
selves showing  its  financial  value  as  well  as  the 
moral  benefits  of  large  interest  in  the  employees' 
well-being,  insures  better  conditions  in  these  town 
industries.  The  growing  factory  town  will  be  a 
large  expansion  of  field  to  many  struggling 
churches,  solving  in  many  cases  the  problem  of 
overcrowding  towns  with  too  many  churches, 
and  will  stimulate  all  the  activities  of  many  such 
places  long  in  decadent  condition. 

3.  The  railroad  town  is  another  well-known 
type  but  it  has  been  steadily  improving  in  moral 
character  under  various  general  movements.  The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  for  railroad 
men  have  everywhere  brought  many  railroaders 
to  Christ  and  wisely  provided  for  their  leisure, 
as  well  as  strengthened  their  hands  in  personal 
work  for  their  fellows;  Industrial  Brotherhoods 
among  them,  like  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomot- 
ive Engineers,  of  Railroad  Conductors,  and  of 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  67 

other  classes  of  employees,  have  been  led  by 
earnest  Christians,  like  the  late  P.  M.  Arthur, 
as  Executives  and  have  notably  succeeded  in  ele- 
vating the  moral  character  of  the  men ;  the  stricter 
regulations  of  the  Railroad  companies  concerning 
drink  and  immorality  have  had  their  effect.  The 
churches  in  which  these  men,  whose  daily  life 
is  so  full  of  peril  and  hardship,  whose  work  re- 
quires so  steady  nerve  and  quick  initiative  and 
endurance,  are  among  the  leading  members,  are 
the  best  of  country  churches.  They  are  generous 
in  giving,  trained  by  their  work  to  be  prompt 
and  thorough,  and  living  in  constant  danger,  often 
become  men  of  simple  trust  in  God.  They  are 
unusually  good  material  out  of  which  to  build  a 
powerful  church.  On  the  other  hand  their  Sun- 
day work  takes  them  away  from  the  church  when 
most  needed  and  renders  their  work  in  the  serv- 
ices uncertain.  And  there  are  still  large  num- 
bers of  railroaders  unreached  by  gospel  influences 
and  whose  love  of  excitement  tempts  them  to 
excesses  of  vice,  so  that  railroad  towns  are  often 
both  commendable  for  church  activity  and  fear- 
fully bad  in  immoralities.  Sabbath  desecration 
is  specially  demoralizing  in  the  railroad  town. 

4.  The  mining  town  now  has  a  large  admix- 
ture of  immigrants  from  Southeastern  Europe, 
the  Slavs,  Hungarians,  Bohemians,  Poles,  and 
Lithuanians.  In  one  Pennsylvania  mining  town 
the  Lithuanians  rule.  They  elected  the  Mayor, 
the  majority  of  the  City  Councils,  and  have  a 


68  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

police  force  of  their  own  people.  But  they  are  no 
worse,  probably  better,  than  former  government 
there.  In  another  town  where  only  English  and 
German  were  spoken  formerly  it  is  said  that  a 
man  counted  thirty  different  languages  spoken  at 
the  railroad  station  one  day.  The  Penna.  Bible 
Society  requires  Bibles  in  seventy  languages  and 
dialects  to  supply  these  regions.  The  small  min- 
ing villages  or  ''  patches  "  are  almost  solidly  of 
these  people  in  some  sections  and  are  being  con- 
sidered important  fields  by  Home  Mission  work- 
ers. Here  earnest  Christians  are  feeling  their 
responsibility,  learning  these  languages  in  a  few 
splendid  cases,  and  working  hand  to  hand  with 
them.  It  would  mean  a  new  and  wonderful  life 
for  the  local  churches  to  plan  for  their  people 
to  undertake  such  personal  mission  work.  There 
are  other  mining  regions  where  a  large  number 
are  yet  Americans,  in  many  yet  a  predominating 
American  population,  or  the  descendants  of  Irish, 
English,  Welsh,  and  Germans,  all  now  English 
speaking.  The  mining  town  is  above  all  things 
excitable.  It  is  usually  rife  with  drunkenness 
though  not  so  bad  in  social  vices  as  some  other 
towns.  Churches  are  better  than  in  most  towns 
of  their  size  and  many  of  them  doing  excellent 
spiritual  work  when  run  intensely,  for  the  people 
must  have  exciting  activity  all  the  time.  There 
is  no  better  place  for  an  "  open  church,  never 
closed  "  with  broadened  activities.  The  people 
are  on  the  streets  every  night  and  the  "  never 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION,  69 

closed "  church  has  a  wonderful  opportunity. 
With  a  spiritual  center  of  power  and  all  other 
work  co-ordinated  to  it,  the  church  in  a  mining 
town  would  have  crowds  and  a  continuous  in- 
gathering. 

5.  The  fishing  village  or  town  of  the  men  of 
the  sea  has  its  peculiar  difficulties,  hard  to  un- 
derstand by  people  who  have  never  lived  there. 
There  are  many  idle  days  when  no  boat  can  go 
out  to  fish  and  no  place  has  then  such  absolute 
idleness.  The  men  and  boys  lounge  and  sleep 
all  day.  The  uncertainty  of  returns  from  their 
work  is  a  financial  confusion.  Sometimes  they 
receive  large  money  compensation  and  at  other 
times  for  considerable  periods  next  to  nothing, 
and  this  leads  to  swinging  from  extravagance 
to  pinching  need.  It  makes  it  risky  to  plan  for 
the  church  or  the  home.  Their  work,  however, 
develops  courage  and  boldness,  patience  and  sym- 
pathy in  losses  and  sufferings  of  others.  We 
know  some  churches  of  spiritual  power  in  fish- 
ing and  oyster  towns,  and  others  as  dead  as  the 
lazily  flapping  sail  on  the  boat  in  midsummer 
calm.  Christ  found  in  fishermen  like  John,  James, 
and  Peter  apostles  of  power  and  the  sea  still 
develops  such  splendid  types  of  character  when 
one  with  Christlike  spirit  knows  how  to  discover, 
train  and  place  them. 

6.  The  college  or  seminary  town,  when  the  in- 
stitution of  learning  in  it  is  under  religious  in- 


70 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


fluences,  is  specially  favored.  The  fine  oppor- 
tunity to  educate  young  people  in  the  classics 
while  in  home  environment  is  itself  beyond  price. 
Many  are  induced  by  the  presence  of  the  college, 
to  pursue  extended  courses  who  would  not,  or 
think  they  could  not,  leave  home  to  do  it.  It  is 
a  general  awakener  and  mighty  stimulus  to 
higher  life  in  every  way.  The  atmosphere  of  re- 
finement and  culture  created  is  helpful.  The 
presence  of  the  college  faculty  gives  an  intel- 
lectual tone  to  social  life.  The  churches  secure 
better  equipped  pastors  necessarily  and  the  sing- 
ing and  worship  are  enriched.  A  few  strong 
men  in  the  local  church  in  some  cases  frown 
upon  unusual  attention  given  to  students,  making 
a  perplexing  problem  to  the  pastor  but  these  are 
probably  exceptional.  These  towns  are  among 
the  first  to  drive  out  the  saloon  and  are  ideal 
places  for  the  training  of  children.  The  oppor- 
tunity of  the  church  is  of  that  higher  sort  which 
means  intensive  culture,  the  presentation  of  loft- 
iest ideals  of  life,  and  of  the  noblest  things  of 
Christlike  character.  There  may  be  trained 
great  leaders  for  the  church. 

All  these  special  types  of  town  are  yet  dis- 
tinctively rural.  Life  is  simple,  freer  in  social 
intercourse,  and  not  over-crowded.  The  church 
can  accomplish  far  more  than  in  cities  with  the 
same  efifort  and  money. 

Civic  reforms   are  attainable   which   in  cities 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  71 

would  have  no  chance  of  victory.  Home  Hfe, 
sweet  and  strong,  is  there.  The  town  must  be 
arrested  in  its  spiritual  and  moral  decay,  and  may 
be  started  upward  into  large  realization  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  RURAL  SUBURB. 

Blessed  is  that  suburb  which  finds  as  it  be- 
gins expanding,  an  aggressive  and  spiritual 
church  in  the  midst.  By  its  shepherding  of  the 
new  families  as  they  come,  they  are  deeply  in- 
fluenced or  captured,  and  the  character  of  a 
suburb  has  actually  been  made  Christian  by  one 
such  church.  The  story  is  an  inspiration  to 
others  to  do  likewise. 

There  are  suburbs,  so  called,  with  manufactur- 
ing and  other  industries  whose  population  and 
characteristics  are  the  same  as  those  of  factory 
towns.  Proximity  to  a  great  city  gives  the  ad- 
ditional advantage  of  city  inspiration  to  some  ex- 
tent and  some  influence  from  city  ideals.  But 
otherwise  the  religious  and  moral  conditions  are 
those  of  the  town  we  have  just  been  discussing. 
In  reality  such  "  suburbs  "  are  large  towns  near 
a  city,  and  their  people  not  only  sleep  and  eat 
evening  dinners  there,  but  live  there  altogether 
and  have  their  daily  work  and  all  other  inter- 
ests in  the  place. 

72 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  73 

The  other  kind  of  suburb,  which  must  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  town,  is  purely  a  residence 
community,  usually  of  the  salaried  people  of  a 
city  or  of  its  business  men.  For  the  men  it  is, 
during  the  week,  simply  the  sleeping  place  and 
the  place  for  good  evening  dinners,  and  on  Sun- 
day the  place  to  which  they  immediately  return, 
as  many  of  the  residents  do,  from  a  morning 
church  service  in  the  city.  Or,  more  justly,  on 
the  whole  in  every  way  it  is  the  place  of  their 
comfortable,  attractive,  and  restful  homes. 

There  are  grave  religious  perils  in  the  resi- 
dential suburb.  With  most  of  these  the  pastor 
and  Christian  people  are  only  too  deeply  im- 
pressed for  they  are  despairing  about  them,  but 
they  usually  overlook  some  of  the  obstacles  even 
greater. 

I.  There  is  the  danger  of  satisfaction  with  a 
fine  church  building  and  a  good  Sunday  morning 
service.  The  structures  for  worship  in  suburbs 
are  usually  handsome  as  they  ought  to  be  with 
the  wealth  of  the  residents  and  the  character  of 
their  own  homes.  The  people  point  with  pride 
to  them  and  often  wonder  what  more  is  neces- 
sary. And  if  they  have,  besides,  a  fairly  good 
preacher  for  Sunday  morning  service  what  more 
could  be  expected  of  them  ?  "  To  go  to  an  even- 
ing service?  And  to  prayer-meeting  and  a  lot 
of  other  services  during  the  week  ?  "  Well,  they 
came  out  to  the  country  to  rest,  and  the  neigh- 
borhood is  made  up  of  good  people,  and  they 


74  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

have   been   attending   church   services   all   their 
life! 

The  good  men  and  women,  however,  who 
would  reduce  their  children,  by  their  own  non- 
attendance,  to  only  one  really  inspiring  service  a 
week,  and  to  so  small  spiritual  culture,  forget 
that  they  themselves  did  not  become  the  matured 
Christians  they  are,  loving  Christ's  Church,  on 
one  religious  service  in  early  life.  They  tell 
you  of  two  lengthy  sermons  and  worship,  of  two 
sessions  of  the  Sunday-school,  of  an  attractive 
mid-week  service,  of  reUgious  homes  with  in- 
struction and  worship,  and  of  personal  devo- 
tional habits  of  Bible  reading  and  daily  prayer. 
In  New  England  in  the  colonial  days  the  old 
church  was  town  hall,  school,  library,  social  cen- 
ter and  church  in  one.*  They  assembled  Sunday 
morning  with  practically  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  present  at  nine  o'clock  to  have  an  all  com- 
prehensive prayer  earnest  and  long,  a  sermon  of 
more  than  an  hour,  then  cold  lunch  and  a  second 
sermon  of  sometimes  two  hours.  But  that  discip- 
line and  teaching  gave  Massachusetts  hundreds 
of  famous  men  of  ripest  character  and  scholar- 
ship to  a  few  score  from  five  other  states  under 
"  modern  "  church  life.  Why  should  these  sub- 
urban Christian  parents  expect  their  children  to 
grow  great  in  character  on  one  small  service  a 
week  and  no  home  religion?    Are  they  ready  to 

*  Dr.  Hillis,  in  "  Man's  Value  to  Society."     He  judges  by 
prominence  in  Encyclopedias. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  y^ 

forfeit  all  matured  Christian  habits  and  deep 
spiritual  life  of  their  children  to  indulge  in  home 
lounging  which  they  call  rest?  And  then  in 
later  life  have  those  children  by  their  godless- 
ness  and  selfishness  fearfully  break  into  the  rest, 
the  aged  parents  will  then  desire  so  much  more? 
By  all  the  gratitude  Christian  parents  feel  for 
their  early  religious  life  they  ought  to  furnish 
what  is  just  as  gocyl  for  their  children. 

2.  This  danger  is  general  of  making  the 
suburb  chiefly  the  place  of  absolute  inactivity 
and  of  evening  and  Sunday  dinners  prolonged 
beyond  reason.  That  very  home,  sweet  home, 
is  the  creation  of  the  church,  and  it  cannot 
long  be  sweet  or  restful  when  the  church  loses 
its  vigorous  spiritual  life  or  the  home  is  sep- 
arated from  it.  This  cannot  too  often  be  said. 
Home  will  be  enjoyed  all  the  more  if  its  pleas- 
ures are  adjusted  to  real  activity  in  a  broad  and 
stirring  church  work  in  the  suburb.  Lounging 
in  absolute  inactivity  is  not  real  recuperation  to 
a  normal  mind.  It  is  itself  wearisome  and  after 
a  while  intolerable,  and  so  in  these  people  who 
plead  for  exemption  from  Christian  work  that 
they  may  rest  at  home,  we  see  the  strangely  in- 
consistent development  of  extended  and  exciting 
Sunday  dissipation,  and  long  hours  of  absence 
from  the  home  on  tiresome  rides  and  visits.  They 
cannot  stay  all  the  time  in  their  homes  with  sat- 
isfaction to  their  active  natures. 

There  are  splendid  Christian  people,  on  the 


76  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

other  hand,  who  have  learned  that  the  need  of 
fellowship  for  highest  joy,  and  of  usefulness  to 
others,  is  met  exactly  and  fully  by  a  larger 
church  activity,  and  then  the  home  becomes 
sweetest  of  all  and  continues  so  to  the  end  of 
life. 

3.  The  danger  of  continuing  to  hold  church 
membership  in  the  distant  city.  This  is  a  most 
perplexing  problem  for  really  fair  and  discrim- 
inating study.  The  city  church  in  many  cases 
sorely  needs  the  attendance,  the  financial  support, 
and  service  to  the  extent  he  can  render,  of  the 
wealthy  suburbanite.  Lifelong  associations  of 
the  most  tender  sort  bind  him  to  that  church,  and 
if  he  is  past  middle  life  he  hesitates  to  break 
these,  knowing  the  difficulty  of  forming  new 
associations.  He  hopes  to  attach  his  children  as 
firmly  as  himself  by  regular  Sunday  morning  de- 
votion to  the  city  church.  But  that  church  is 
rapidly  changing  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  hold 
all  its  people,  and  the  children  as  a  matter  of  fact 
are  not  acquiring  their  parents'  love  for  it.  The 
children  attend  Sunday-school  in  the  suburban 
church  and  Sunday  night  service  there.  The 
discerning  Christian  father  will  decide  that  he 
must  join  that  church  for  the  sake  of  his  children, 
and  some  of  them  are  wise  indeed  to  conclude 
further  that  they  must  throw  themselves  into 
that  church  with  all  their  experience  and  ability 
as  Christian  workers.  Many  Christian  parents 
are  not  so  observant  nor  so  prompt  in  doing  the 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


77 


safe  thing  for  their  homes  and  future,  and  they 
relapse  into  irregularity  in  all  church-going  and 
into  loss  of  real  interest  in  either  place.  They 
cannot  work  efficiently  in  the  distant  city  church 
and  they  excuse  themselves  because  of  member- 
ship in  the  city  from  any  important  work  in  the 
country.  Multitudes  of  able  men  and  women, 
whom  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  cannot  spare,  thus 
have  discharged  themselves  early  in  life.  It  is  a 
grave  peril  for  all  concerned,  to  the  city  church 
lest  by  selfishly  holding  on  to  men  whom  it  can- 
not help  nor  use,  that  church  forfeits  the  blessing 
of  God,  to  the  country  church,  and  most  of  all 
to  the  man  himself. 

4.  The  danger  grows  if  the  churchman  in  the 
suburbs  keeps  all  his  other  interests  in  the  city — 
if  he  goes  to  the  city  for  all  intellectual  associa- 
tions, for  social  entertainment,  and  for  his 
friendships.  Of  course  he  must  necessarily  look 
there  for  the  best  for  a  long  time  to  come.  But 
there  is  every  good  reason,  and  every  selfish 
one,  for  beginning  to  plan  some  intellectual  re- 
sources in  his  neighborhood,  and  for  forming 
such  friendships  as  may  be.  Otherwise  there 
will  be  for  him  no  neighborliness  and  no  com- 
munity interest.  The  isolation  of  families  on 
crowded  city  streets  and  avenues  with  constantly 
changing  tenants,  may  be  unavoidable  in  large 
measure,  but  to  carry  it  into  the  permanent  settle- 
ments of  the  open  country  is  unchristian  and  silly 
pride.    Intimate  friendships  are  not  formed  in  a 


yS  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

day  and  may  be  left  to  slow  growth  but  a  kind 
neighborliness  is  possible  at  once  to  be  cultivated. 
It  costs  nothing  and  it  blesses  those  who  give 
and  those  who  receive. 

5.  There  is  lastly  the  danger  of  extremes  of 
riches  and  poverty.  The  retinue  of  servants  and 
serving  men  about  the  suburban  mansion  form  a 
class  distinct  from  the  family.  The  master  and 
servants,  the  lady  and  her  maid,  in  many  cases 
go  to  the  same  church  and  introduce  social  caste 
there.  It  is  a  perplexing  problem  to  be  solved 
only  by  spiritually  intensifying  church  activity 
and  Christlike  love. 

Now  after  this  assuredly  full  exhibit  of  the 
difficulties  let  us  look  as  fairly  at  the  advantages 
for  Christian  work  in  the  suburban  church. 

1.  The  church  is  more  important  relatively 
than  in  the  city.  It  is  the  only  public  building 
and  its  bell  the  only  sound  that  breaks  the  Sab- 
bath-like quiet  during  the  week  and  wakens  sweet 
memories  on  Sunday.  This  gives  the  church 
a  great  opportunity. 

2.  Fellowship  between  the  churches  in  a 
suburb  is  usually  close  and  genuine.  The  pastors 
in  many  cases  are  intimate  chums  and  their  con- 
gregations fuse  easily  and  strongly  for  general 
town  enterprises.  This  gives  civic  anli  commun- 
ity opportunity  of  a  commanding  character. 

3.  There  are  more  fully  equipped  pastors  than 
in  the  towns.  Larger  salaries  are  paid,  a  thor- 
oughly educated  ministry  is  demanded  and  se- 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  -jg 

cured,  and  this  constitutes  a  factor  of  very  great 
power. 

4.  For  the  same  reason  the  laymen  in  these 
churches  are  abler  and  more  influential.  The 
laymen  in  suburbs  who  go  into  the  churches 
as  Sunday-school  superintendents  and  teachers, 
as  vestrymen,  trustees  or  deacons,  are  men  and 
women  of  large  education,  broad  general  culture, 
and  experience  in  the  management  of  great  enter- 
prises. 

5.  There  are,  therefore,  larger  financial  re- 
sources as  a  rule  for  Christian  work.  The  pas- 
tor may  plan  many  helpful  adjuncts  of  the 
church  with  freedom  and  if  he  skilfully  develops 
them  he  will  have  no  lack  of  money  to  work 
efficiently  for  the  community. 

6.  The  children  of  the  best  homes  in  most 
cases  at  once  and  the  young  people,  are  acces- 
sible to  the  local  church.  The  parents  now 
are  more  difficult  to  win,  or  at  least,  the  fathers 
may  be.  But  they  will  come  later  if  the  church 
ministers  helpfully  to  the  young  people. 

7.  Where  the  town  is  incorporated  it  is  a  gain, 
and  where  it  is  not,  steps  should  be  taken  to 
develop  a  strong  and  excellent  local  government. 

8.  There  is  special  opportunity  for  some  lines 
of  summer  work.  The  church  is  often  at  its  best 
in  the  summer,  the  attendance  at  maximum,  and 
the  Sunday-school  is  largest.  Very  attractive 
out-door  evening  services  may  be  planned.  A 
grove  near  by  may  be  seated  for  lectures  and 


8o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Special  musical  entertainments.  Simple  games 
and  amusements  may  be  provided  for  the  com- 
munity at  immense  gain  in  fellowship  and  the 
neighborhood  spirit.  In  a  few  choicely  situated 
places  even  larger  courses  of  study  and  summer 
assemblies  are  possible. 

On  the  whole  the  suburb  has  a  formidable 
spiritual  inertia  because  the  erstwhile  powerful 
forces  of  the  city  have  come  to  a  standstill.  But 
in  aggressive  push  upon  this  condition,  there  is 
a  corresponding  rich  reward.  When  the  forces 
again  move  they  possess  the  power  they  had  in 
the  city  without  meeting  the  obstacles  of  the  city. 
There  is  no  better  field  to  the  church  that  is 
filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  modern  and  com- 
plete church  organization  of  all  her  members  and 
resources. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A   GREAT   FUTURE   FOR   RURAL  DISTRICTS. 

The  surprising  reversal,  in  a  decade,  of  the 
drift  of  population  from  being  city-ward  to  be- 
coming rural*  is  only  one  of  many  momentous 
changes  on  the  horizon  of  our  country  districts. 
This  drift  of  the  people  so  strongly  to  the  country 
is  itself  a  result  of  changed  conditions,  rather 
than  a  cause  of  them,  though  it  brings  still 
further  improvements  there,  and  thus  accelerates 
the  movement.  There  is  profound  interest  in  it 
for  economic  reasons,  and  also  sociologically, 
but  no  less  for  Christian  life  which  is  our  chief 
concern  here. 

The  prospect  for  the  American  farmer  and  his 
farm  was  never  before  so  alluring.  The  farmer's 
work  is  to  become  a  scientific  profession,  and  the 
growing  intellectual  ability  of  the  man  with  the 
hoe  in  his  broadening  range  of  studies  related  to 
the   farm   is   a   matter  of   common   observation. 

*  See  Chap.  II.  Census  of  1900  compared  with  1890  as  to 
urban  and  rural  populations.  Estimated  populations  since 
(U.  S.  Census  Bulletins  1906)  shows  drift  to  country  con- 
tinues. 

81 


82  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

His  college-bred  son  is  willing  to  return  to  the 
farm  and  spend  his  life  upon  it  with  scientific 
enthusiasm.  And  not  only  the  farm  but  the 
cross-roads  village  and  the  country  town  are 
destined  to  share  in  a  wonderful  future  already 
well  begun. 

Let  us  trace  some  of  the  plainer  lines  of  this 
development,  and  with  eyes  always  open  to  their 
effect  upon  the  spread  of  Christ's  Kingdom  in 
country  places,  carefully  consider  them. 

I.  The  great  movement  for  good  roads  which 
is  receiving  so  great  favor  in  large  appropria- 
tions in  many  states  of  the  Union.  Even  the 
Lincoln  Memorial  is  to  be  a  great  highway  from 
Washington  to  Gettysburg,  so  great  is  the  en- 
thusiasm for  scientific  and  permanent  road  build- 
ing. What  do  good  roads  signify?  All  that 
closer  and  more  frequent  communication  and  in- 
termingling of  people  may  bring  to  pass.  For 
business  it  means  less  wear  and  tear,  more,  rapid 
marketing,  and  even  with  slight  increase  of  tax- 
ation, greatly  reduced  expenses  and  larger  in- 
come. For  the  church  it  means  increased  at- 
tendance from  longer  distances,  an  uninterrupted 
series  of  meetings  made  possible,  and  closer  fel- 
lowship of  the  people.  The  wet  weather  ob- 
stacle is  largely  removed  by  good  roads.  What 
is  to  become  of  the  "  dry  weather  Christian  "  left 
without  excuse,  in  the  new  era? 

In  the  light  of  these  advantages  think  of  the 
millions  of  dollars  appropriated  by  Pennsylvania, 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  Z^ 

Maryland,  and  other  states  for  the  scientific 
building  of  great  highways  all  over  their  com- 
monwealths. In  many  cases  the  states  require 
equal  appropriations  from  the  counties,  thus 
doubling  the  money  for  the  movement.  Think  of 
the  automobile  influence  everywhere  compelling 
the  construction  and  maintenance  of  other  high- 
ways of  the  best  kind.  There  is  vast  improve- 
ment already  and  this  movement  is  sure  to  spread 
until  every  church  is  accessible  in  winter  and 
summer,  in  rain  or  shine,  by  foot  or  carriage,  to 
all  its  people  almost  as  much  as  in  the  city. 
There  will  be  no  more  lonely  farm-houses,  no 
homes  separated  from  civilization  by  miles  of  im- 
passable mud  lanes,  and  no  closed  churches  when 
it  rains.  The  lazy  member  must  look  for  another 
excuse. 

2.  Electric  railway  development  is  progressing 
with  ever  increasing  breadth'.  Most  of  these  rail- 
ways are  profitable,  for  the  expense  of  power, 
wages,  equipment,  and  maintenance  is  far  below 
that  of  steam  railways.  These  electric  cars  climb 
the  hills  and  spin  through  the  valleys  in  regions 
beyond  where  any  other  could  go  with  small  ex- 
pense of  leveling,  grading,  or  tunneling.  There 
are  counties  in  the  old  states  with  a  remarkable 
network  of  electric  railways  reaching  to  every 
part,  so  that  one  can  make  headquarters  in  the 
large  city  returning  to  it  every  night,  and  reach 
every  little  town  and  crossroads  for  afternoon  and 
Conventions  can  be  held  in 


84  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

the  central  place  and  people  from  twenty  towns 
and  surrounding  country  can  attend  day  and 
evening  and  return  home  for  the  night.  The 
small  expense  for  the  trip  does  not  exclude  even 
the  poor  from  such  stimulating  meetings  and 
fellowship.  The  frequency  of  these  trips,  their 
routes  offen  to  the  very  doors  of  the  people,  and 
their  short  stops,  make  them  the  ideal  carriages 
of  the  common  people.  No  king  one  hundred 
years  ago  could  have  a  coach  warmed  in  winter, 
lighted  up  to  read  at  night,  running  smoothly  with 
scarcely  a  jolt,  and  more  swiftly  than  his  fastest 
horses.  Through  the  loving  Providence  of  the 
Heavenly  Father  his  poor  children  have  them 
now. 

Shall  we  not  regard  this  electric  car  as  the  new 
message  of  the  Father  to  reconstruct  our  plans 
for  Christianizing  in  the  country?  It  is  a 
marvelous  addition  to  Christian  resources.  Let 
the  imagination  loose  to  define  what  changes  it 
will  inevitably  produce  in  the  rural  home,  in 
business,  in  education,  on  the  farm,  and  above 
all  on  the  religious  and  rural  life  of  three-fourths 
of  the  American  people !  It  has  already  brought 
about  new  attractions  in  the  situation  of  country 
homes,  in  the  number  of  visits  the  country  young 
people  make  to  the  city,  and  in  the  mutual  in- 
fluencing of  city  and  country.  But  when  it  has 
had  a  new  generation  to  work  upon  from  earliest 
childhood  it  will  produce  a  new  race  in  the  farm- 
house. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


8S 


3.  The  telephone  is  common  in  large  sections 
of  the  country  and  in  towns  it  is  more  generally 
used  by  families  than  in  cities.  The  annual  cost 
in  cities  is  prohibitive  to  ordinary  people  but  the 
smaller  charge,  generally  about  one-fourth  that  in 
cities,  in  rural  communities  puts  it  within  reach 
of  almost  every  home.  Pastors  in  these  towns 
almost  universally  have  it  and  they  can  call  a 
meeting  of  their  deacons,  trustees,  of  their  Sun- 
day-school teachers,  and  of  certain  influential 
families  in  a  half  hour  without  rising  from  their 
study  chair,  the  few  who  have  no  telq)hone  being 
reached  by  their  near  neighbors  with  any  mes- 
sage. I  have  known  a  large  meeting  to  be 
worked  up  by  several  telephones  in  a  day.  The 
pastor  calls  up  the  home  in  affliction  or  distress 
every  morning  and  sends  his  sympathy  by  light- 
ning. He  saves  time  from  errands  of  many 
kinds  for  larger  reading  and  study,  and  so  does 
the  reading-loving  farmer  save  hours  from  trips 
to  the  store  or  freight  office,  or  other  places,  and 
spends  them  upon  splendid  farm  journals,  books 
and  general  magazines.  What  a  blessing  all  this 
signifies!  No  one  but  the  farmer  knows  what 
weary  hours  and  days  he  spent  upon  deep  mud 
roads  on  errands  the  telephone  does  for  him  in 
an  instant  now.  He  can  now  have  home  also  in 
longer  fellowship.  The  telephone  in  large  meas- 
ure ends  the  farm  loneliness  and  its  isolation 
from  the  present  day  world.  The  whole  family 
use  it  for  social  conversation.    Their  home  is  in 


86  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

constant  nelghborliness  with  other  farms  and 
with  the  town  or  city  miles  away.  It  is  very  in- 
teresting to  watch  the  smaller  children  from  six 
years  up  going  to  talk  with  playmates  or  little 
friends  on  the  telephone.  They  will  never  know  the 
old  loneliness  at  all,  and  we  shall  soon  have  a 
generation  of  farm  people  with  a  fine  social  con- 
sciousness and  splendid  community  of  interests. 
It  is  a  fascinating  mental  excursion  of  the  im- 
agination again  to  try  to  define  the  changes 
rapidly  coming  by  this  gathering  of  multitudes 
of  separated  farm-houses  into  one  neighborhood 
connected  by  these  wonderful  nerves  of  thought, 
feeling,  and  new  purposes,  rather  like  one  vast 
living  organism.  Summing  up  the  transforma- 
tion wrought  by  good  roads,  electric  railways, 
and  the  telephone  on  the  old  farm  and  the  little 
village,  it  amounts  to  a  revolution  to  larger  relig- 
ious and  moral  possibilities. 

4.  Rural  free  delivery  of  mails  is  another  in- 
calculable addition  to  the  farmer's  power  and  en- 
joyment. The  growth  of  it  has  been  amazing. 
Rural  delivery  was  first  officially  suggested  by 
Postmaster-General  John  Wanamaker  in  his  an- 
nual report  for  189 1.  Congress  was  so  slow  to 
adopt  it  that  the  first  three  experimental  routes 
were  established  as  late  as  October  i,  1896  in 
West  Virginia.  But  in  nine  months  it  had  ex- 
tended to  83  routes  scattered  over  29  states. 

The    number    of    rural    routes    in    operation 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


87 


throughout  the  United  States,  June  i,  1909,*  was 
40,637  served  by  40,508  carriers.  All  these  are 
daily  routes  except  668  which  are  tri-weekly,  but 
no  mail  is  served  on  Sundays  or  holidays.  Rural 
delivery  reaches  approximately  20,000,000  peo- 
ple in  all  the  states  and  territories,  except 
Alaska,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  states  and  ter- 
ritories except  unsettled  or  sparsely  settled  por- 
tions. The  cost  to  date  has  been  about  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  millions  of  dollars,  the  present 
annual  cost  being  nearly  thirty-six  millions,  or 
almost  two  dollars  expended  by  the  Government 
for  postal  facilities  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  in  these  rural  sections. 

Here  is  a  national  army  of  forty  thousand 
men,  almost  as  large  as  the  regular  army  of 
soldiers,  on  daily  duty  to  establish  fortifications 
for  the  national  welfare  in  diffusing  general  in- 
telligence and  developing  social  ties  which  will 
be  more  powerful  than  ironclads  or  material 
ramparts.  It  staggers  the  imagination  to  fore- 
see what  this  rural  delivery  alone  will  accom- 
plish for  American  civilization  in  fifty  years. 
When  we  remember  that  it  has  in  twelve  years 
permeated  to  every  village  and  cross-roads  in 
every  state  and  territory,  that  it  is  therefore  na- 
tional in  its  scope,  and  that  it  is  a  daily  service 
at  every  farmer's  door  or  at  the  end  of  the  short 
lane,  who  can  estimate  what  an  addition  to  all 

*  Letter  to  author  from  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster- 
General,  June  24,  1909. 


88  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

his  Other  newly  acquired  advantages  is  the  daily 
free  delivery  of  mail  to  the  farm  and  the  cross- 
roads village.  The  metropolitan  daily  news- 
papers are  read  before  noon  in  farm  homes  two 
hundred  miles  from  the  city  in  every  direction. 
The  farm  is  a  vital  part  of  the  great  busy  world, 
and  all  the  interests  of  humanity  are  discussed 
by  the  farmer  boy  and  his  father  in  the  barn,  and 
in  the  kitchen  by  the  mother  and  daughter.  The 
newspaper  is  a  mighty  civilizer  and  in  many 
respects  goes  before  to  prepare  the  way  for 
Christianizing.  Let  the  church  be  alert  to  fol- 
low where  the  newspaper  clears  the  way.  That 
equally  wonderful  forum  for  everything  in  the 
welfare  of  man,  the  monthly  magazine,  lies  on 
the  farm-house  table  under  the  brilliant  coal-oil 
lamp  at  every  issue.  The  young  people's  library 
is  next,  already  growing  in  many  such  homes. 
Larger  correspondence  between  friends  also  has 
grown,  this  resulting  in  more  frequent  visits, 
and  thus  the  farm  children  and  their  parents  are 
becoming  really  traveled  people.  So  naturally 
and  inevitably  does  one  movement  of  civilization 
connect  with  another.  It  is  the  same  old  farm 
and  the  same  little  village  but  not  the  same  slow, 
uninformed,  isolated  farmer  and  his  family. 
And  it  will  not  long  be  the  same  old  farm  nor 
the  same  uninteresting  village  as  we  have  already 
noted. 

To  the  children  and  young  people  these  in- 
novations are  s^s  of  birthright.     They  know  of 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  89 

nothing  else  in  many  sections  and  they  grow  by 
them  intellectually,  morally,  and  broadly  intelli- 
gent and  sympathetic  citizens  of  the  world  from 
the  start.  Think  of  that  splendid  product,  the 
manhood  and  character  from  the  country  in  the 
past,  surely  the  future  will  have  a  much  abler 
and  more  refined  man  and  woman  to  pour  into 
the  cities  or  to  retain  on  the  farm  in  large  num- 
bers. 

Small  packages  from  near-by  towns  are  now 
authorized  to  be  carried  by  the  mail  men  pri- 
vately. The  Postal  Package  will  come  some  time 
soon  in  spite  of  opposition  by  private  transporta- 
tion companies  and  long  delay  by  Congress, 
greatly  trying  to  the  people.  But  even  with  the 
exorbitant  present  charges  for  carriage,  the 
farmer  is  shopping  by  mail  in  great  cities.  Have 
you  ever  been  in  the  village  home  when  the 
bulky  annual  catalogue  of  the  mail  order  house 
arrives?  Have  you  seen  the  family  pore  over 
it  day  after  day  at  their  leisure?  The  catalogue 
is  itself  an  education  in  the  comforts  and  con- 
venieces  of  highest  civilization,  and  the  farm- 
house and  the  village  home  are  discussing  the 
luxuries  formerly  only  found  in  finest  city  homes. 
We  could  here  describe  farm  homes  of  modest 
means  that  are  cultured,  elegant  and  delightful 
places. 

5.  Postal  Savings  Banks  also  will  follow,  the 
farmer  will  then  anticipate  a  retired  life  before 
old  age,  and  prepare  to  make  it  attractive  with 


90 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


travel,  fellowship,  and  larger  usefulness  to  man- 
kind. 

6.  All  these  new  things  will  mean  a  large  in- 
termingling of  city  people  and  country  people 
farther  out  each  year.  The  suburb  is  now  here 
but  some  city  families  already  go  out  to  country 
towns  and  remote  villages.  Their  fine  mansions 
with  great  lawns  of  many  acres  and  forest  are 
springing  up  everywhere.  The  people  of  city 
and  country  are  next  neighbors  in  mutual  re- 
spect. Into  the  village  come  the  ideals  and  the 
pushing  activity  of  the  city,  and  to  the  city  family 
the  meditation  and  repose  of  the  country.  What 
then  will  the  farmer  of  to-morrow  become?  It 
is  indeed  a  glorious  prospect,  but  shall  the  church 
be  the  last  to  see  what  it  signifies  of  opportunity 
for  her  to  bring  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  into  large 
realization  in  rural  districts? 

7.  The  farmer  is  only  in  the  beginning  of 
great  help  from  Governmental  agencies  and  in- 
vestigations. It  is  almost  a  new  book  of  miracles 
which  is  published  annually  by  the  Hon.  James 
Wilson,  United  States  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 
Really  wonders  of  advancement  are  made  on 
American  farms  from  the  untiring  research  by 
eminent  scientists  into  every  matter  that  affects 
soils,  best  seeds,  largest  possible  crops,  methods 
of  planting,  protection  of  crops,  harvesting,  and 
marketing;  how  untold  millions  of  dollars  are 
saved,  and  the  labor  of  the  toiling  lightened  and 
more  richly  rewarded  at  every  turn;  how  a  new 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  ^r 

interest  In  all  his  work  amounting  to  enthusiasm 
as  for  a  learned  profession  has  been  created ;  and 
how  the  dignity  of  farm  work  has  grown  in  pub- 
lic esteem.  Agricultural  colleges  are  training 
for  the  new  marvels  of  farming;  farmers'  insti- 
tutes are  profoundly  discussing  every  problem  of 
their  new  profession  under  the  lead  of  state  and 
national  government  experts,  sixty  such  experts 
being  employed  by  Pennsylvania  and  scores  by 
Wisconsin  and  other  states,  every  winter,  to  go 
two  by  two,  or  often  three  by  three,  on  their 
apostolic  tours  for  better  farms  in  all  parts  of 
these  states ;  a  richly  entertaining  and  scientific 
literature  about  farm  work  and  its  possibilities 
has  sprung  up  in  a  decade ;  *  and  now  former 
President  Roosevelt  has  stirred  up  all  the  farmers 
and  village  dwellers  to  consider  improvements 
in  their  homes  and  environment,  their  schools 
and  village  conditions,  appointed  a  learned  Com- 
mission to  confer  with  them  about  it,  and  on  one 
day,f  the  earnest  men  of  the  soil  and  the  plow 
met  in  public  gatherings  all  over  America.  They 
discussed  certain  questions  and  suggestions  sent 
them  by  the  Commission  and  the  wonderful  In- 
terest in  it  all  Is  shown  by  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  papers  from  them.  These 
answers  of  the  farmers  treat  in  an  illuminating 
way  of  the  wonderful,  new  life  coming  to  country 
America. 

*  See  Section  II.  chap.  VII.  for  larger  treatment  of  these 
movements. 

t  The  first  simultaneous  Institutes,  Dec.  5,  1908. 


92 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 


No  other  business  is  considered  by  the  Govern- 
ment with  such  paternal  soUcItude  and  helpful- 
ness. Its  results  already  stagger  the  imagination 
to  measure,  but  it  is  only  within  ten  years  that 
really  practical  help  has  been  given  farmers  by 
agricultural  colleges,  and  as  yet  only  a  small 
fraction  of  the  farmers  of  America  have  been 
reached  by  their  helpful  movements,  and  some 
of  those  reached  have  been  all  too  slow  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  valuable  instruction.  Yet 
many  pages  might  be  filled  with  the  success  of 
the  new  type  of  farmer  in  his  crops,  his  stock, 
his  fruit,  and  his  dairy.  And  the  new  spirit  is 
rapidly  spreading  as  the  reception  to  former 
President  Roosevelt's  Commission  amply  gives 
evidence.  It  was  predicted  that  agricultural 
communities  would  resent  the  President's  effort 
as  impertinent  meddling  into  their  affairs.  But 
with  few  exceptions  all  the  farm  journals  en- 
thusiastically supported  the  movement,  and  the 
immediate  result  of  gathering  what  has  already 
been  accomplished  In  home  and  village  improve- 
ments points  the  way  for  all,  and  immensely 
stimulates  progress. 

Government  enterprise  In  reclaiming  from  the 
desert  millions  of  acres  of  the  best  land,  the 
stupendous  schemes  of  irrigation,'''  the  scientific 

*  Census  Bulletin  231  gives  total  value  of  crops  for  1899  on 
irrigated  lands  in  the  arid  states  and  territories  $84,433,438, 
total  acreage  5,7 1 1,965,  first  cost  per  acre  $7.80,  annual  cost  of 
maintenance  per  acre  only  38  cents,  and  average  value  of  crop 
per  acre  $14.81  a  year,  nearly  twice  the  first  cost  of  the 
system. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


93 


analyses  of  soils  which  produced  surprising  ways 
of  fertilizing  great  sections  hitherto  almost 
worthless,  the  remarkable  discovery  of  "  dry 
farming"  other  vast  areas,  are  marvelous 
achievements.  The  introduction  of  new  grasses, 
plants,  fruit,  and  better  stock  of  seeds  from  for- 
eign lands  and  by  culture  are  other  really  monu- 
mental contributions.  Farm  pests  and  parasites 
are  being  annihilated.  Farm  animals  are  having 
a  real  evolution  almost  miraculous,  one  south- 
western farmer  having  crossed  the  ox  with  the 
buffalo  and  produced  a  permanent  new  flesh- 
bearing  animal  of  finest  qualities,  among  many 
such.  And  that  wonderful  wizard  with  plants, 
Luther  Burbank,  of  California,  produces  new 
fodder  of  nourishing  richness  from  the  cactus, 
and  new  fruits,  grains,  and  flowers. 

All  these  new  aspects  of  farming  make  it  now 
America's  wonderland  for  science  and  inventive 
genius.  Men  of  scholarship  and  high  character 
are  going  into  it,  and  who  can  predict  what  it  will 
be  even  in  ten  years?  The  shift  of  general  in- 
terest from  city  problems  to  the  farm  is  very 
significant.  Let  us  specially  be  grateful  as  we 
think  of  what  it  will  mean  for  the  country  church 
and  for  the  young  people  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
village,  and  let  us  not  fear  to  construct  large 
plans  for  the  church  and  for  the  community  to 
meet  these  opportunities.  The  organization  for 
Christian  work*  which  we  propose  later  will  not 
seem  large  in  the  face  of  such  a  future. 
*  See  Sections  II.  and  III. 


94  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

8.  Consider  the  present  extraordinary  prosper- 
ity of  the  farmer.  Panics  may  rack  great  cities, 
smaller  cities  and  manufactures,  but  the  farmer 
gets  ever  higher  prices  and  disposes  of  all  he  can 
grow.  What  should  this  mean  for  better  homes, 
finer  churches,  and  larger  investment  in  all 
Christian  work? 

9.  The  great  growth  of  cities,  it  is  self-evi- 
dent, will  stimulate  a  correspondingly  great  de- 
velopment of  farms,  for  the  farms  must  support 
the  cities.  It  can  easily  be  gathered  from  census 
returns  that  our  best  farms  are  located  in  the 
older  and  most  populous  states.  The  yield  of 
wheat  for  the  acre  in  Massachusetts  is  fifty  per 
cent,  above  the  average  of  the  whole  country.* 
The  great  city  is  not  deteriorating  and  depleting 
the  rural  districts  around  it  but  actually  and 
most  wonderfully  developing  them.  Here  the 
highest  prices  are  received  for  all  productions, 
here  intensive  garden  farming  is  carried  on  with 
its  specializing  of  farmers  into  growers  of  par- 
ticular crops,  and  here  the  increased  facilities  of 
travel  eliminates  the  middleman  largely  in  the 
farmer's  business. 

The  specializing  of  farm  industries  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  evolution  of  a  few  decades 
past.  There  are  now  specialist  growers  of 
celery,  of  asparagus,  of  strawberries,  of  melons, 
and  other  vegetables  and  fruit;  there  are  orange 
men,  apple  men,  peach  men,  banana  men,  and 

*  Census  of  1900 — 35  bushels  per  acre  to  23  bushels  per 
acre  in  other  states,  in  round  figures. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION. 


95 


grape  men,  there  are  great  duck  farms  where  the 
little  ducklings  are  forced  by  feeding  several 
times  a  day  and  even  aroused  at  night  by  electric 
lighting  for  another  stuffing  meal,  so  that  in  ten 
weeks  from  the  ^^%  a  five  pound  duck  is  ready 
for  market  and  twenty-four  cents  wholesale  a 
pound  is  the  farmer's  reward  for  it.  The  im- 
mense ^%%  farms,  squab  farms,  and  other 
specializings  in  poultry  and  in  large  animals  are 
well  known.  And  the  various  kinds  of  dairy 
farms  have  grown  to  immense  proportions  near 
great  cities. 

This  proximity  to  city  life  develops  the  farm 
home  in  every  luxury  of  modern  civilization. 
The  young  people  are  fully  satisfied  to  remain 
there  and  with  scientific  enthusiasm  still  further 
develop  the  wonders  of  new  stock  of  animals  and 
plants.  Thus  the  city  and  the  farm  join  hands 
in  mutual  growth  in  wealth  and  in  the  comforts 
of  civilization. 

10.  The  rapid  elimination  of  the  saloon  from 
rural  districts  goes  sweeping  on.  Three-fourths 
of  rural  America  now  has  no  saloon,  and  it 
would  take  a  volume  to  detail  all  that  this  really 
signifies  to  young  and  old,  for  economic,  social, 
and  moral  well  being.  The  writer  has  recently 
visited  for  days  and  weeks  rural  sections  with 
the  saloon  and  without  it,  and  has  seen  the  great- 
ness of  the  difference. 

11.  The  growing  enthusiasm  for  the  farm  has 
reached  the  young  man  from  college.     A  maga- 


96 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


zine  *  has  just  published  the  true  story  of  a  splen- 
did farm  with  its  cultured  proprietor,  whose  son 
after  a  thorough  classical  and  scientific  training 
in  college  goes  back  with  eagerness  to  spend 
his  life  on  it.  The  scientific  problems  of  agri- 
culture, the  new  and  exact  methods  of  tilling, 
and  the  comforts,  social  connections  and  attrac- 
tions of  the  business  with  modern  conveniences 
make  it  really,  as  we  have  said,  a  learned  pro- 
fession and  a  delightful  occupation. 

12.  These  new  alignments  of  rural  people  with 
the  world  mean  that  henceforth  they  will  share 
in  the  world's  marvelous  modern  progress.  For 
a  long  time  the  country  was  left  far  behind  in 
the  march.  And  the  advance  of  the  world  is  with 
accelerating  rapidity.  As  much  progress  in 
every  way  was  made  in  the  first  fifty  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  as  in  hundreds  of  years 
before.  The  next  twenty-five  years  made  even 
more  than  those  wonderful  fifty ;  and  the  last 
twenty-five  years  of  that  century  twice  as  much 
beyond  that.  The  first  ten  years  of  the  new 
century  will  speed  the  world  on  higher  relatively 
than  any  twenty-five  previously  have  done.  The 
imagination  is  burdened  in  attempting  a  flight 
ahead.  It  Is  comforting  to  know  that  country 
America  is  keeping  step  in  all  the  forward 
movement. 

13.  The  new  education  Is  pushing  to  the  doors 
of   the    farm    home.      There   are   township   high 

*  World's  Work,  Feb.,  Mar.  1909. 


THE  RURAL  SITUATION.  97 

schools  which  receive  the  pupils  from  the  dis- 
trict school  and  prepare  them  for  college.  The 
grading  of  the  district  school,  the  better  teachers 
in  many  places,  and  the  larger  courses  of  study 
are  inspiring  advances. 

14.  The  country  is  catching  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  age  for  nature  study  and  v^hen  once  fairly 
begun  it  will  sweep  through  towns  and  villages 
as  it  has  in  certain  cities.  What  rich  fields  lie 
at  the  doors  of  the  boys  and  girls,  and  the  men 
and  women,  in  rural  districts  for  this  delightful 
study!  The  native  birds  alone  furnish  a  life- 
time with  material  for  thorough  observation ;  and 
the  teeming  insect  life,  and  the  plants  and  flowers 
are  other  fields  for  specialists.  This  nature  study 
is  now  internationally  organized  and  the  boy  on 
the  farm  can  receive  regular  contributions  of 
gorgeous  insects  from  tropical  regions,  and  from 
the  Orient  in  exchange  for  the  native  specimens 
which  he  can  prepare  in  superabundance.  This 
will  still  further  connect  his  farm  home  with  the 
civilized  world  and  broaden  and  mature  splendid 
character. 

Here  then  is  a  new  thing  under  the  sun,  the 
gentleman  farmer  loving  his  plow  and  his 
harvester,  proud  of  his  educated  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, who  are  glad  to  stay  with  him  in  the  cul- 
tured home  they  have  constructed.  He  is  ready 
to  join  church  leaders  awake  to  the  new  situa- 
tion, and  he  is  able  to  plan  with  them  to  meet  it. 


98 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


The  church  *  as  usual  is  the  last  to  arouse 
herself  to  understand  the  civilization  her  gospel 
has  produced,  but  surely  she  is  not  going  to 
drowse  any  longer  in  the  midst  of  multitudinous 
open  doors  in  rural  districts.  Let  her  forget  the 
things  that  are  behind  and  anticipate,  as  business 
men  do,  the  demands  of  the  near  future,  to 
realize  the  call  of  God  to  her  in  the  new  Country 
America. 

*  See  splendid  exceptions  of  churches  in  Sec.  III. 


SECTION  11. 

HOW  CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES 
MUST  BE  SPREAD  AND  MADE 
CONTROLLING  IN  THE  COUN- 
TRY. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  TWOFOLD  WAY  OF  PROPAGATING  THE  GOSPEL. 

In  many  illuminating  symbols  and  parables 
Christ  teaches  that  there  are  two  ways  of  extend- 
ing the  kingdom  he  came  to  establish  among 
men. 

By  one  way  the  kingdom  of  God  spreads  in 
the  earth  like  the  branches  of  a  great  tree  far 
out  to  protect  and  shelter;  this  is, shown  by  the 
mustard  tree  grown  from  a  tiny  germ  to  im- 
mense height  and  breadth.  By  the  other  way  it 
expands  like  leaven,  the  leaven  which  is  hidden 
in  the  meal  and  kept  in  that  vital  relation  to  it 
for  a  transforming  work  of  particle  after 
particle. 

Again,  one  way  is  that  the  disciples  are  the 
light  of  the  world  which  streams  far  out  be- 
yond personal  contact ;  the  other  is  that  they  are 
the  salt  preserving  the  purity  of  all  who  unite 
with  them. 

Of  these  two  ways,  the  light  spreading  must 
signify  the  conquest  of  the  world  by  gospel 
truth  and  ideals  which  has  resulted  in  Christian 
civilization,  the  development  of  all  Christian  in- 


102  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

stitutions  like  hospitals,  orphanages,  benevolent 
movements,  the  extension  of  Christian  truth 
about  the  rights  and  duties  of  man,  human  rela- 
tions, and  all  that  we  now  know  as  the  influence 
of  Christ  upon  society,  upon  fundamental  law, 
and  upon  all  world  movements ;  the  other  way 
is  the  saving  of  individual  men  by  the  new 
spiritual  life  symbolized  by  infusing  into  the 
dead  mass  of  meal  a  transforming  leaven,  the 
leaven  which  here  stands  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  then  uniting  them  into  a  church  to 
be  mutually  preservative  as  salt.  The  disciples 
as  salt  to  each  other  do  not  purify,  for  Christ 
alone  is  the  purifier  as  Saviour.  The  function  of 
the  church,  however,  is  well  expressed  as  salt  to 
its  members. 

It  is  foolish  to  talk  of  the  purifying  power  of 
salt  as  any  one  can  see  who  will  experiment  with 
it  on  tainted  meat  or  decaying  vegetables. 

In  the  values  set  upon  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
this  twofold  distinction  is  continued.  To  one 
view  it  is  a  treasure,  probably  a  treasure  box  of 
large  size,  found  in  a  field  and  containing  pre- 
sumably money,  tools,  weapons,  and  other  arti- 
cles for  every-day  use.  This  is  the  value  of 
salvation  for  the  individual's  supply  of  his  needs. 
A  comfort  in  sorrow,  a  weapon  in  temptation,  a 
supply  for  hunger  and  thirst  for  righteousness 
In  Hfe  and  character;  a  large  amount  of  money 
also  which  could  be  converted  into  the  neces- 
saries of  daily  life  is  what  the  treasure  box  prob- 


CHRIS  TIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 03 

ably  contained.  But  the  other  parable  of  value 
is  a  pearl,  the  royal  symbol  of  beauty,  of  glory, 
of  noble  achievement ;  it  may  finely  represent  the 
ideals  of  Christianity  for  society,  like  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  in- 
dividual, of  the  woman,  of  the  child,  the  world- 
wide democracy,  the  sonship  with  God,  and  other 
ideals  and  standards  of  Christianity  for  civiliza- 
tion. 

This  pearl  stands  for  the  immeasurable  influ- 
ence of  Jesus  and  his  gospel  in  the  world  at 
large.  That  influence  has  struck  the  colossal 
image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  saw,  the  world- 
wide empires,  fearful  despotisms,  gigantic  op- 
pressions of  men,  and  ground  them  to  powder. 
Child  murder  has  gone  forever,  widow  burnings, 
witch  burnings,  slavery,  torture  of  prisoners, 
cruelties  unnamable,  oligarchies,  spoliation  by 
kings  and  other  horrors  and  wrongs ;  law  has 
come,  merciful,  just,  impartially  administered; 
institutions  educational,  benevolent,  rescuing  ;  love 
has  come  into  human  intercourse  in  a  thousand 
ways  in  business  and  society.  All  these,  through 
the  wide-spread  influence  of  Jesus  and  the  preach- 
ing of  the  ideals  and  standards  of  the  gospel. 

The  other  way  is  the  salvation  of  men  one  by 
one,  Christ's  personal  work  in  the  individual 
soul.  He  does  this  by  dropping  the  seed  deep  into 
the  soil  of  the  man's  heart  and  causing  it  to  ma- 
ture in  the  fine  wheat.  But  in  another  parable- 
picture  we  see  this  wheat  in  the  midst  of  tares, 


I04  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

the  tares  and  the  wheat  growing  together  until 
the  harvest.  He  could  not  here  set  forth  the 
influence  of  the  wheat  upon  its  neighbor  tares, 
but  this  influence  is  inevitable  and  through 
Christ  is  very  powerful  and  revolutionary.  It  is 
set  forth  in  the  leaven  where  the  individual 
Christian's  inner  life  is  also  imparted  to  those 
around  him  by  the  power  of  Christ. 

These  pairs  of  parables  move  along  the  same 
two  lines.  They  exhibit  the  two  general  ways 
of  the  spread  of  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
which  we  are  seeking  to  put  into  control  of  rural 
communities.  There  is  little  need  now  of  em- 
phasizing the  duty  of  a  propaganda  for  indi- 
vidual accessions  to  Christ  and  his  church. 
Christian  people  clearly  apprehend  this  gospel 
method,  but  they  do  not  often  so  clearly  discern 
that  the  world  is  being  conquered  for  Christ  by 
his  truth  as  well  as  by  his  salvation.  Both  of 
these  lines  of  propaganda,  by  the  leaven  and  by 
the  mustard  tree,  by  the  salt  and  by  the  light,  by 
the  seed  dropped  into  the  heart,  and  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  church  without,  that  is  by  the 
accession  of  new  disciples  and  by  the  spread  of 
ideals,  have  been  in  operation  since  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  The  preaching  of  the  whole  gospel 
of  Christ,  spiritual,  ethical,  social,  will  always 
start  both  lines  of  development.  The  statistics 
of  Christianity  to-day  must  include  the  work  of 
legislatures  all  over  the  world,  the  transforma- 
tion of  business  of  all  kinds,  the  institutions  of 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD.  1 05 

civilization,  the  educational  movement,  and  the 
new  kind  of  popular  and  humane  governments  in 
all  the  world. 

By  the  conquest  of  his  truth,  the  sense  in 
which  he  said  to  Pilate  he  had  come  to  be  the 
world's  king,  Jesus  Christ  is  rapidly  coming  to 
his  world-wide  enthronement.  By  universal 
acknowledgment  he  is  the  prince  of  all  teachers 
of  true  righteousness.  And  while  we  insist  on 
that  as  only  the  first  battle  won,  and  that  his 
victory  is  not  complete  until  he  has  become  every 
man's  individual  Saviour,  we  will  not  undervalue 
the  wonderful  meaning  of  it.  The  truth  of 
Christ  prevails. 

Our  problem  of  methods,  therefore,  is  in  Chris- 
tianizing country  places  to  discover  what  sort 
of  organization  or  organizations  are  required  to 
spread  the  kingdom  most  effectively  within  the 
church  to  largest  numbers  of  individual  con- 
versions, and  what  movements  outside  the 
church  will  effect  a  conquering  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. This  second  series  of  movements  should 
be  discussed  next  in  order;  it  is  the  social  work 
of  the  gospel,  and  then  the  evangelistic  work. 

The  actual  situation  in  the  country  is  to  be  re- 
garded. We  have  seen  this  situation  to  be,  in  the 
midst  of  a  brilliant  promise  for  the  future,  usu- 
ally an  unattractive  and  struggling  church,  and 
outside  of  the  church  few  if  any  movements  in 
general  for  mutual  helpfulness.  What  can  be 
done? 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GOSPEL    PRINCIPLES    FOR    CHRIST'S    WORKERS. 

Christian  work  surely  ought  to  be  done  in 
accordance  with  Christ's  declared  principles  for 
the  worker.  Much  earnest  work  has  been  un- 
successful because  the  worker  has  failed  to  rec- 
ognize Christ's  principles  or  has  ignored  them. 
Even  the  every-day  work  of  the  world  is  neces- 
sarily a  real  co-operation  with  God's  laws  in  phys- 
ical nature  or  in  economics,  and  many  of  the 
principles  we  shall  name,  or  the  substance  of 
them,  have  been  adopted  by  the  world.  In  de- 
veloping a  Christian  civilization,  we  must  still 
more  sincerely  and  fully  live  by  them. 

What,  then,  are  the  principles  underlying 
Gospel  ways  of  working? 

I.  God  is  ever  for  organization,  sinful  man  all 
for  chaos  and  anarchy.  The  perversely  blind  op- 
position in  country  churches  to  every  step  to- 
ward a  more  complete  organization  of  tlie  local 
church  is  one  of  the  relics  of  barbarism,  of  which 
there  are  a  curiously  large  number  persisting 
io6 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 07 

to  our  day.  If  we  are  to  be  workers  with  God, 
we  shall  see  that  he  everywhere  has  marvelously 
organized  his  work.  The  stars  of  the  universe 
are  in  wonderful  systems,  our  earth  is  one  of 
them  w^ith  the  sun  as  the  center  and  with  every 
planet  forming  a  marvelous  machine,  working 
with  almost  perfect  regularity;  all  flowers  and 
leaves  are  constructed  with  mathematical  preci- 
sion ;  the  bodies  of  animals  and  of  man  are  in- 
imitable organisms ;  and  even  stones  and  sand 
in  modern  science  and  philosophy  are  more 
wonderful  constructions  than  man's  mind  was 
thought  to  be  formerly. 

The  stock  objection  to  complete  church  or- 
ganization is  that  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  more  important.  This  seems  very  religious 
until  we  remember  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
Spirit  of  God  looking  for  human  bodies  through 
which  to  express  himself,  requires  such  bodies 
to  be  holy,  consecrated,  knowing  the  truth,  and 
united  with  his  people.  Which  means  well 
organized  individually  as  the  apostles  were  after 
three  years'  daily  training  by  the  most  wonder- 
ful of  teachers,  practice  in  preaching  and 
Christly  works,  and  ten  days'  incessant  prayer. 
(Acts  1:2;  Romans  12:1.)  The  power  did 
not,  however,  come  upon  them  individually  when 
apart  but  when  in  one  accord  in  one  place.  It 
came  upon  the  organized  church  when  every 
member  of  it  was  a  worker.  Doubtless,  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  always  come  upon  a  church  in 


Io8  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

that  condition  but  such  a  condition  to-day  can 
be  achieved  only  by  most  complex  and  complete 
organization.  Let  the  objector  try  to  realize  it 
without  organization  if  he  can. 

In  what  a  distressing  condition  of  half-de- 
veloped, less  than  quarter-developed  life,  the 
church  is  found  after  so  many  attempts  to  do  it 
without  adequate  organization !  The  average 
church  uses  about  one-tenth  of  her  membership 
as  real  workers,  many  of  these  holding  four  or 
five  offices ;  she  gets  regular  income  from  only 
one-third  of  them  and  few  of  these  are  propor- 
tionate and  systematic  givers  or  cheerful  givers; 
she  makes  personal  workers  in  soul  winning  of 
less  than  one  in  fifty  of  them,  has  habits  of 
church-going  in  not  half  of  them,  and  the  prayer- 
meeting  habit  in  one-twelfth  of  them.  Yet  there 
are  pastors  in  towns  and  villages, — never  mind 
those  in  cities — who  solemnly  argue  that  the 
church  is  over-organized !  As  well  might  a 
man,  two-thirds  paralyzed,  and  stiff,  think  he  was 
too  active  because  the  other  third  became  some- 
what over-tired  from  extra  work. 

The  question  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
versus  organization  is  like  asking  which  is  more 
important,  the  steam  or  the  locomotive?  Try 
steam  without  a  body  of  perfectly  organized  ma- 
terial to  express  it  and  of  what  value  is  it?  No 
one  of  course  wants  the  locomotive  alone,  for 
there  is  no  antagonism  between  the  finest  modern 
type  of  a  hundred  ton  engine  and  the  highest 


CHRIST! A  N  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.   1 09 

Steam  pressure  in  her  safe  boiler.  Rather,  the 
splendid  locomotive  invites  the  steam  at  once  to 
be  given  to  her.  So  does  a  magnificently  organ- 
ized man  like  Paul  most  fully  express  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  so  does  a  church  vital  in  every 
member  to  his  last  talent  by  a  marvelous  organ- 
ization really  invite  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enter  into 
her  many-sided  work.  He  will  there  have  his 
largest  opportunity  for  the  continuation  of  really 
Christlike  work  which  is  the  Spirit's  mission 
in  the  Church. 

The  man  who  thinks  no  organization  is  needed, 
pleading  for  *'  a  minimum  of  human  effort,"  urges 
a  return  to  Pentecostal  conditions  for  the  con- 
quering times  of  the  gospel.  Well,  let  us  indeed 
return  to  the  preparation  which  the  Apostles  had 
for  the  Spirit's  outpouring  in  Jerusalem.  Has 
our  objector  thought  of  what  this  preparation 
really  included?  Jesus  gathered  his  apostles  from 
fishermen,  tax-gatherers,  and  other  occupations, 
and  as  faithful  Jews  they  were  less  ignorant  of 
the  Bible  than  our  ordinary  converts  are,  not  so 
greatly  absorbed  in  business  and  material  inter- 
ests as  present  day  accessions,  with  a  simplicity 
of  conditions  in  their  environment  not  now  even 
in  our  towns  and  villages,  and  with  no  diverting 
and  confusing  newspapers  and  other  daily  sen- 
sations to  interfere  with  his  training. 

Let  us  give  the  more  difficult  material  In  the 
natures  of  present-day  people  three  years  of  con- 
stant daily  teaching  on  great  truths  of  the  gospel, 


no  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

as  Jesus  did  his  disciples  in  preparation  for  Pen- 
tecost. Our  additional  supreme  task  is  that  we 
cannot  have  such  a  teacher  as  they  had  and  it 
would  take  many  years  more  to  reach  the  same 
stage  of  spiritual  growth.  Christ's  teaching  was 
daily  and  all  day,  every  day  for  three  years.  He 
organized  them  into  bands  and  trained  them  for 
wonderful  work  for  the  three  years.  He  per- 
formed before  them  miracles  of  healing,  of  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  of  power  over  Nature,  and 
trained  them  in  faith  and  practice  so  that  they 
could  do  the  same  wonders.  They  had  experi- 
ences that  will  never  more  come  to  men  in  just 
the  form  they  had  them  in  witnessing  Christ's 
glory,  his  sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension.  An  untrained,  unorganized,  simple- 
hearted  people  were  they?  Let  some  one  calcu- 
late how  long  it  would  require  Normal  Teacher 
Training  Classes,  Young  People's  Societies, 
Brotherhoods,  Mission  Bands,  the  Organized 
Bible  Class  movement,  and  every  other  conceiv- 
able intellectual,  social,  and  benevolent  movement 
to  bring  his  church  to  where  the  disciples,  leav- 
ing the  Mount  of  Olives  after  Jesus'  ascension, 
actually  stood  in  wonderful  training.* 

Then  after  his  church  has  been  brought  to 
such  training  let  the  objector  try  the  spiritual 
organization  of  a  ten-day  prayer  meeting  like 
that  in  Jerusalem.  If  he  has  achieved,  by  a  very 
complete  organization  of  the  church  to-day,  the 

*  See  Dr.  A.  B.  Bruce's  "  The  Training  of  the  Twelve." 


CHRIS  TIA  N  FRINCIPL  ES  MUS  T  BE  SPR EAD.  j  i  j 

same  condition  as  the  disciples  had,  he  will  have 
Pentecost  after  ten  days  of  such  prayer,  as  prob- 
ably his  people  never  practiced  before.  Is  it  not 
the  most  superficial  study  of  the  early  church 
that  fails  to  apprehend  what  an  almost  perfect 
organization  would  be  required  to  bring  about 
the  same  conditions  now? 

In  the  same  unthinking  way,  there  are  many 
who  set  individual  work  over  against  thorough 
organization,  failing  to  see  that  the  initiative  to 
individual  work  by  any  large  number  of  church 
members  comes  only  after  a  superior  organ- 
ization of  the  church.  Let  these  men  show  a 
church  without  much  organization  where  every 
man  is  a  successful  personal  worker,  a  fine  Bible 
teacher,  a  large  giver,  or  a  splendid  Christian 
character.  How  will  they  answer,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  question  of  the  Lord  when  he  inquires 
for  the  unemployed  talents  of  nine-tenths  of  his 
disciples  there,  for  the  reason  why  so  few  have 
ever  won  a  soul  to  Christ,  and  why  with  over- 
flowing wealth  around  us  his  church  goes  beg- 
ging for  the  pennies  on  the  pitiable  Sunday  plate? 
Will  they  declare  that  every  individual  must  an- 
swer for  himself  and  that  they  exhorted  indi- 
viduals to  do  these  very  things?  Why,  then,  have 
a  church  organization  at  all  if  it  must  nullify 
itself  and  declare  that  individual  effort  is  all 
that  is  planned?  Especially  when  the  resulting 
lack  of  individual  effort  exhibits  such  a  fearful 
failure.     Should  not  the  really  godly  men,  who 


112  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

take  such  a  position  against  organized  work, 
re-examine  the  Scriptural  grounds  for  their 
attitude? 

The  argument  for  individual  effort  is  not 
against  prior  church  organization  but  logically 
for  it.  A  very  complex  and  large  organization  is 
required  to  put  every  individual  into  his  best 
adapted  place  employing  most  or  all  of  his  talents. 
And  only  then  will  any  large  proportion  of  indi- 
viduals do  other  work  beyond  their  part  in  the 
organization.  The  car  runs  on  alone  after  it  has 
beei^  well  started  as  part  of  the  long  train. 

Every  step  forward  in  Christian  civilization  is 
toward  fuller  organization.  There  are  no  wheels 
within  wheels  in  a  condition  of  savagery.  Every 
step  away  from  organization  of  society  or  of  the 
church  is  toward  chaos  and  lawlessness.  There 
is  no  power  in  the  wheels  within  wheels  them- 
selves but  they  furnish  the  only  medium  for  the 
fire  and  the  spirit  v/ithin  to  be  effective.  The  man 
who  unites  with  the  church  has  the  right  to  ex- 
pect the  opportunity  of  organized  work  for  his 
efforts.  "  One  a  thousand,  two  ten  thousand  "  is 
the  way  organization  multiplies  power,  and  it  is 
a  necessity  for  the  development  of  the  Christian 
life. 

Shall  the  church  be  a  workshop  with  every 
member  at  the  bench  on  full  time  or  shall  it  be  a 
hospital  with  the  good  pastor,  who  will  not  have 
societies  and  associations  to  use  the  talents  of  his 
people,  always  busy  healing  their  bruises  from 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 1 , 

childish  quarrels  among  them?  There  is  no 
menace  in  general  society  more  threatening  than 
armies  of  the  unemployed  and  it  is  after  all  a 
choice  between  having  a  varied  w^orkshop  for  a 
church  or  having  it  a  hospital. 

The  plea  for  organization  is  fundamental  to 
further  progress.  Without  it  the  work  has 
stopped.  The  old  simplicity  no  longer  attracts 
even  in  the  country.  The  day  of  the  specialist 
and  the  expert  has  come  in  all  work,  and  surely 
spiritual  work  ought  to  be  done  as  well  as  shoe- 
making,  or  surgery,  or  the  law.  The  first  chap- 
ter of  Ezekiel  seems  a  wonderful  picture  of 
spiritual  organization.  There  are  faces,  the  in- 
telligence of  a  man,  the  courage  of  a  lion,  the 
perseverance  of  the  ox,  the  aspiration  of  the 
eagle;  there  are  wheels  within  wheels,  fire  in  it 
all ;  infolding  itself  ever  farther  within ;  wings 
upon  wings  for  speed,  rims  of  eyes  to  see  every 
opportunity,  hands  to  grasp  them,  and  a  circum- 
ference of  the  work  *'  high  and  dreadful."  In  it 
all  the  spirit  moving  this  organization  of  wheels 
and  wings,  hands  and  eyes,  with  the  throne  of 
one  like  a  man  above  it,  the  diversity  coming 
into  unity  of  purpose  and  power. 

2.  Another  practical  principle  for  all  Chris- 
tian work  has  persistently  been  overlooked,  and 
without  it  beginnings  have  met  difficulties  insur- 
mountable. No  question  is  more  frequently 
asked,  when  the  organized  church  is  described, 
how  can  I  begin  just  where  my  church  is,  so 


114  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

far  away  from  such  a  condition?  The  Lord's 
oft-repeated  principle  is  to  accept  only  willing 
workers.  The  pastor  or  church  leader  who  has 
tried  it  in  a  practical  way  has  made,  as  the  writer 
did  to  himself,  a  really  wonderful  discovery. 

God  calls  to  his  service  only  those  who  come 
gladly  and  willingly.  The  concrete  instance  of 
Gideon's  band  is  typical.  The  fearful  and  home 
loving  were  not  wanted.  Only  those  glad  to 
remain  and  who  were  willing  to  fight.  What- 
ever the  service  or  the  offering  this  must  be  the 
spirit  or  it  is  rejected. 

"Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness."    Psalm  loo: 

2. 

Praise  him  with  the  whole  heart.    Psalm  9 :  i. 

Whosoever  is  of  a  willing  heart  bring  an  offer- 
ing.    Exodus  35:  5. 

"  With  a  perfect  heart  and  with  a  willing 
mind."     i  Chron.  28:9. 

"  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver."     2  Cor.  9 : 7. 

"  Rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to 
suffer."    Acts  5:41. 

"  If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  ac- 
cepted."   2  Cor.  8:  12. 

In  Deut.  28:  47,  a  great  curse  was  upon  the 
people  because  they  served  not  the  Lord  with 
joyfulness. 

In  Psalm  51:12  (Revision)  is  a  prayer  that 
God  will  "uphold  me  with  a  willing  spirit." 
And  so  on. 

We  see  clearly  that  the  only  worker  the  Lord 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 1  ^ 

wanted  or  called  was  the  wholly  willing  one. 
We  believe,  we  have  no  right  in  his  name  to  ac- 
cept any  others  for  his  work  to-day.  We  for- 
feit his  richest  blessing  when  we  constrain  those 
who  profess  to  be  his  people  by  one  motive  or 
another  to  engage  in  his  work.  There  are  peo- 
ple, however,  who  shrink  because  of  undue 
humility  or  underestimate  of  themselves,  but 
who  are  truly  consecrated  and  really  willing  and 
these  we  may  urge  to  enter  the  work  in  full 
harmony  with  the  principle  of  only  willing  serv- 
ice for  God.  But  to  gather  into  the  Lord's  house 
a  company  of  his  people  who  come  grumblingly 
and  unwillingly,  who  complain  of  being  expected 
to  give  overmuch  of  their  time  or  money  to 
God's  cause,  is  to  foredoom  the  series  of  meet- 
ings involved  or  the  particular  religious  enter- 
prise for  which  they  are  summoned  to  failure. 
Is  it  not  in  God's  sight  a  blasphemous  insult? 
How  can  we  expect  his  blessing? 

We  may,  indeed,  be  as  much  dismayed  by  such 
a  principle  of  working  as  Gideon  was.  But  it  is 
the  Lord's  law  from  first  to  last  and  it  always 
succeeds.  There  is  in  every  church  a  number, 
sometimes  small  but  a  sufficient  nucleus,  who  are 
willing  workers.  If  there  are  really  none  'at  all 
that  church  might  as  well  disband.  But  a  fair 
test  in  every  case  after  earnest  presentation  of 
this  principle  as  Scriptural  and  the  only  way  to 
receive  God's  blessing  always  surprises  the  pastor 
or  leader.    The  Lord  has  a  large  number  yet  in 


Ii6  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

his  church  in  all  the  world  who  take  joy  in  his 
work.    Let  us  call  them  out  with  confidence. 

In  the  most  practical  v-iew  this  is  the  only  right 
way  of  beginning  better  work.  The  band  of  will- 
ing workers,  however  small,  is  a  germ  of 
power.  Their  personal  leadership  is  inspiring, 
undismayed  by  difficulties  and  obstacles;  they 
develop  a  real  enthusiasm  which  becomes  con- 
tagious, and  their  personal  influence  becomes 
powerful.  They  are  a  united  force  and  ten  all 
pulling  enthusiastically  one  way  are  better  than  a 
hundred  with  forty-five  pulling  back.  The  rich 
blessing  of  God  is  at  once  fully  upon  them  as 
they  work.  It  has  been  found  that  a  whole 
church  of  several  hundred  members  has  been 
permeated  by  a  new  spirit  in  a  year  from  only 
eight  members  who  were  willing  workers.  A 
large  number  of  Sunday-school  teachers  have 
been  inspired  in  a  year  to  seek  normal  prepara- 
tion and  spiritual  power  by  a  half  dozen  of  their 
fellow  teachers  who  gladly  began  such  prepara- 
tion and  could  not  be  discouraged.  The  joy  in 
the  Lord  is  ever  the  strength  of  any  work  for 
him.  Great  revivals  have  swept  over  churches 
started  by  a  little  group  of  glad  and  willing 
workers  with  prayer  and  personal  appeal. 
Whether  for  spiritual  or  other  work  in  the 
church,  or  for  movements  outside,  the  principle 
of  willing  workers  is  the  way  to  succeed.  Ten 
times   their   number   of   drafted   soldiers   grum- 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUS  T  BE  SPREAD.  1 1 7 

bling  and  half-hearted,  will  not  accomplish  half  as 
much  in  a  year  as  they. 

3.  The  Lord's  work  must  be  done  always 
with  unlimited  self-sacrifice.  He  who  shed -his 
blood  for  us  must  have  for  his  service  men  who 
are  willing  to  die  for  him.  His  many  calls  to 
service  all  contain  this  sacrifice  clause.*  There 
is  no  other  way  to  power,  and  strange  paradox 
as  it  is,  no  other  way  to  highest  joy  in  it.  And 
by  another  strange  paradox  of  human  nature, 
real  and  heroic  sacrifice  is  incomparably  attrac- 
tive to  men.  We  see  it  in  American  citizenship. 
Small  self-denials  for  it  are  resented  as  when 
citizens  are  asked  to  join  civic  clubs  to  study 
grave  problems  and  pay  annual  dues,  and  they 
have  no  time  for  these  things,  but  let  there  come 
a  national  peril  and  these  same  people  to  the 
number  of  hundreds  of  thousands  promptly  en- 
listed for  service  in  the  Civil  War  and  in  the 
Spanish  War,  risking  lives,  business  and  all. 

The  appeal  to  the  heroic  moves  even  bad  men 
to  remarkable  sacrifices.  It  is  the  most  practical 
to  make  to  Christians  in  any  condition  or  circum- 
stances. We  wrong  God's  people  when  we  do 
not  call  them  to  suffer  for  Christ's  cause.  The 
most  forlorn  hope  of  a  church  under  an  inspir- 
ing leadership  to  heroism  has  been  saved  and 
made  a  success.  It  is  the  splendid  Christian  prin- 
ciple of  sure  success. 

*  Matt.  10:  9,  21,  38;  16:24,  25;  24:9;  Mark  i :  18;  6:8j 
8:35;  Luke  9:23. 


Ii8  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

Goethe  says — 

"  Everything  cries  out  to  us  that  we  must  renounce  I 
Thou  must  go  without,  go  without ! 
This  is  the  song  every  hour  sings  to  us  hoarsely 
Die  and  come  to  life  !  " 

From  the  altar  of  heroic  self-sacrifice  comes 
the  hot  coal  that  kindles  unquenchable  enthu- 
siasm for  all  Christian  work.  Without  that  kind 
of  enthusiasm  there  are  long,  dreary  struggles, 
but  with  it  an  early  and  ever  larger  success. 
There  are  too  many  people  trying  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian life  without  the  cross,  but  whatever  it  is 
Christ  has  settled  the  matter  that  it  is  not  the 
Christian  life.  Not  a  cross  once  in  a  life-time 
but  the  daily  cross  is  the  way  to  conquering 
power. 

4.  Another  principle  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
Christian  work.  It  is  that  God  will  call  the  lead- 
ers and  workers  if  we  pray  him  to  do  it.  This 
is  Christ's  express  direction  to  those  seeking 
helpers.  The  call  and  anointing  of  the  Lord  was 
the  secret  of  power  of  prophets  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  of  apostles  in  the  New.  The  Lord 
sends  men  no  less  really  to-day.  We  gaze  upon 
the  white  fields  of  wondrous  opportunity  until  we 
are  driven  to  our  knees.  Then  God  still  exer- 
cises his  unsurrendered  prerogative  to  choose 
those  whom  he  desires  to  fill  places  of  great 
power  and  opportunity.  And  there  is  a  courage 
and  confidence  born  of  the  inner  consciousness 
of  the  call  of  God  that  the  worker  must  have  for 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 1  q 

victory.  Jesus  spent  an  entire  night  in  prayer  be- 
fore he  chose  the  twelve  and  the  Primitive  Church 
waited  for  the  Spirit  to  call  men  to  the  work. 
The  discouraged  church  above  all  needs  to  see 
how  practical  is  this  prayer,  and  have  many  ex- 
periences, as  it  will  have,  of  remarkable  answers 
to  it. 

The  work  of  the  church  in  her  own  proper 
organization  in  country  places  to  bring  on  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  will  be  our  larger  study  in 
the  last  section  of  the  book.  Its  relation  to  all 
outside  movements  is  ever  close,  but  these  out- 
side activities  which  Christ  represents  as  the 
lighting  of  the  world,  and  the  spread  of  the  great 
protecting  tree  require  large  development  next  in 
order.  Christian  civilization  of  to-day  is  also  to 
be  claimed  for  Christ.  All  good  character  which 
follows  his  teaching  and  is  inspired  by  his  ideals 
is  to  be  credited  to  him.  Sometimes  the  civiliza- 
tion he  has  created  and  the  character  he  has  in- 
spired fail  to  recognize  him  but  he  works  on 
leading  to  still  nobler  achievments. 

What  are  the  means  he  employs  and  the  chan- 
nels through  which  his  truth  may  operate  out- 
side? 

5.  It  will  be  by  the  development  of  ideals  and 
standards  of  nobler  life.  The  practical  value 
of  ideals  is  becoming  generally  recognized. 
Herbert  Spencer  philosophizes  that  "  any  pro- 
posed system  of  morals  which  recognizes  existing 
defects,  and  countenances  acts  made  needful  by 


I20  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

them,  stands  self-condemned.  Moral  law  re- 
quires as  its  postulate  that  human  beings  be  per- 
fect." This  seems  an  echo  of  Christ's  words, 
^'  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

Indeed,  a  lofty  ideal  is  the  most  practical  of 
impulses  to  progress.  No  man  accomplishes 
much  who  is  not  always  inspired  by  ideals,  but 
no  man  attains  an  ideal  at  a  single  bound.  The 
ideal  guides  every  step  forward,  it  arouses  en- 
thusiasm for  noble  endeavor  and  for  martyr- 
like sacrifice.  Men  are  no  longer  afraid  of  ideals 
nor  discouraged  by  them.  The  demand  for  per- 
fecting things  has  become  as  insistent  as  that 
of  progress. 

The  ideals  of  civilization  are  only  other  forms 
of  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  He  is  the  Light  which 
is  now  shining  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  But  the 
sublime  truths  of  Christ  require  centuries  to 
mature  in  the  world's  consciousness.  The  value 
of  individuality  took  fifteen  hundred  years,  the 
brotherhood  of  man  eighteen  hundred,  and  the 
rights  of  the  child  and  of  woman  will  take  two 
thousand  years.  So  the  nobler  conceptions  of  the 
nature  of  man,  of  society,  of  law,  of  liberty,  of 
property,  of  purity,  of  the  family,  and  of  other 
fundamental  principles  now  in  development  in 
Christian  civilization. 

What  then  are  the  outside  movements  which 
the  light  of  Christ's  teaching  has  begun  and  how 
shall  they  be  started  and  made  triumphant  in 
rural  districts? 


CHAPTER  X. 

CIVIC    CHRISTIANITY    IN    RURAL   DISTRICTS. 

In  many  small  villages  and  in  the  open  country 
there  is  a  loose  and  wholly  inadequate  civic  gov- 
ernment. The  local  "  constable  "  is  supposed  to 
do  police  duty,  but  his  office  is  in  small  repute  and 
only  men  of  inferior  character  usually  occupy  it. 
The  local  magistrate  or  "  justice  of  the  peace  " 
is  a  better  officer  at  times  but  he  generally  takes 
no  initiative  in  law  enforcement.  There  is  conse- 
quently a  condition  of  practically  "  no  govern- 
ment "  in  many  rural  sections.  Drunkenness, 
where  the  saloon  still  exists  is  gross,  and  license 
laws,  loose  enough  always,  are  persistently  vio- 
lated. Occasionally  a  public-spirited  citizen, 
usually  a  pastor,  brings  the  liquor  violator  to 
grief  by  a  legal  prosecution,  but  this  is  soon  for- 
gotten, and  lawlessness  is  resumed  and  un- 
checked. 

A  small  group  of  roughs  sometimes  terrorizes 
a  country  region.  They  are  coarse  and  insulting 
to  women.     They  play  rough  pranks  subjecting 


122  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

neighbors  to  expense  and  injury,  and  they 
blaspheme  God's  name  shockingly.  They  are 
disorderly  in  the  village  church  when  the  fancy 
strikes  them  to  attend.  They  make  the  town 
hideous  by  drunken  rowdyism  and  far  into  the 
night  parade  its  streets  with  howls  and  oaths. 
In  a  few  cases  thieving  is  carried  on  for  a  long 
time,  and  in  one  rural  county  while  this  is  writ- 
ing, a  gang  of  murderers  led  by  a  tavern  keeper 
perpetrated  many  robberies  and  murder  and 
though  suspected  the  farmer  folk  feared  to  in- 
form on  any  of  them. 

Then  there  are  nuisances  to  the  public  health 
unchecked  making  typhoid  fever  and  other  dis- 
eases prevalent,  bad  roads  unrepaired,  though 
road  taxes  are  regularly  collected,  and  a  general 
condition  of  anarchy  exists. 

These  evils  of  no  government  and  the  mani- 
fest possibilities  of  a  good  local  government,  call 
Christian  citizens  everywhere  to  establish  the 
best  developed  possible  in  every  village  and 
farming  community.  Every  church  and  its 
people  should  be  persistently  agitating  for  it. 

In  some  states  like  Ohio  there  is  a  city  form 
of  government  permitted  in  any  community  how- 
ever small  that  desires  it.  Places  of  three  to  five 
hundred  people  have  a  mayor,  clerk,  treasurer, 
six  councilmen,  a  marshal,  a  street  commis- 
sioner, a  health  officer,  and  a  board  of  education 
of  five  members.  Others  may  be  appointed  by 
the  council.     The  fees  and  salaries  are  nominal 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 23 

and  entail  small  expense  for  the  security  afforded 
and  the  local  development  resulting.* 

In  other  states  there  is  a  "  borough  "  form  of 
civic  charter  for  places  under  ten  thousand 
which  may  be  made  equally  efficient.  In  New 
England  the  farming  regions  are  divided  into 
"  towns  "  or  townships  and  a  strong  local  gov-  ^ 
ernment  is  formed  by  commissions  on  health, 
education,  streets  and  so  on.  But  in  many  states 
only  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  the  constable 
exist  in  rural  districts,  a  condition  of  practically 
no  government,  no  development ;  lawlessness  and 
crime.  In  the  town  there  should  as  early  in  its 
development  as  possible  be  secured  a  city  or  bor- 
ough charter.  In  the  suburb  nothing  is  more 
important,  for  the  suburb  has  more  tempting 
houses  and  property  for  thieves,  and  police  pro- 
tection is  vital  to  personal  safety.  And  the 
growth  of  town  pride  for  improvements  will  be 
rapid  and  gratifying. 

In  the  open  country  the  best  possible  imme- 
diate civic  organization  should  be  perfected. 
The  best  officers  carefully  selected  and  then  a 
local  police  official  appointed.  It  need  not  be 
expensive,  for  the  officers  may  be  honorary,  re» 
ceiving  small  fees  for  any  service  rendered,  as 
is  now  the  law  for  constables  and  magistrates. 
The  objection  to  borough  or  city  charters  from 

*  Read  Martin's  "  New  Civic  Government  " — Am.  Book 
Co.,  and  Albert  Bushnell  Hart's  "Actual  Government  as 
Applied  under  American  Conditions." 


124  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

higher  taxes  can  be  overcome  by  election  of 
honest  and  capable  ol^cials,  and  there  will  be 
large  returns  for  increase  of  taxation. 

There  are  considerations  far  beyond  the  finan- 
cial which  argue  for  civic  development.*  The 
schools  require  it  and  that  means  the  future  of 
any  place.  The  character  of  the  child  is  power- 
fully influenced  by  town  environment  and  civic 
conditions.  A  practical  anarchy  is  fertile  ground 
for  personal  lawlessness  in  children  and  young 
people.  The  country  rowdy  in  the  small  town  is 
a  bad  product  of  such  conditions. 

The  village  needs  to  be  kept  in  touch  with  civic 
and  political  movements  of  the  state  and  the 
nation.  Every  political  struggle,  especially 
those  for  nobler  ideals  of  government,  ought  to 
be  brought  to  the  village  and  town  by  good 
citizens.  The  neighborhood  political  m.eeting 
should  be  arranged  for  and  the  best  speakers  in 
the  campaign  engaged.  There  are  few  uplifts 
of  the  country  village  and  farm  comparable  to 
such  tours  as  the  Lincoln-Douglass  debate,  great 
Prohibition  or  Suffrage  issues,  labor  and  capital 
discussions  and  the  deeper  questions  of  Christian 
Socialism.  Never  were  there  issues  with  so  clear 
ethical  notes  as  now.  Let  the  village  ring  with 
these  political  discussions. 

Develop  the  patriotism  of  the  children  by  well 
planned  observance  of  national  days,  the  birth- 

*  See  Batten's  "  New  Citizenship  "—Carlos  Martin's 
"  Christian  Citizenship." 


CHRIS  TIA  N  PRINCIPL  ES  MUS  T  BE  SPREA  D. 


125 


days  of  Lincoln  and  Washington,  Memorial  Day, 
the  Fourth  of  July,  by  making  them  great  oc- 
casions of  a  musical,  spectacular  and  intellectual 
character.  The  public  schools  should  be  sure  to 
celebrate  the  days  not  suitable  for  a  village 
festival.  Elevate  all  celebrations  to  some  re- 
ligious character  along  with  most  enjoyable 
festivities. 

Use  the  flag,  our  beautiful  stars  and  stripes, 
always.  It  should  float  over  every  schoolhouse 
and  be  a  part  of  the  furnishing  of  every  church. 
Teach  young  and  old  to  salute  it  reverently 
wherever  seen. 

The  local  newspaper  may  be  quickened  into 
real  helpfulness,  and  prosperity  for  itself,  if  used 
for  civic  development.  Let  the  editor  invite  dis- 
cussion of  local  needs  and  conditions.  Let  his 
paper  stand  for  lofty  ideals  of  public  order,  im- 
provement, and  morals.  He  may  well  point  out 
that  there  is  financial  return  in  bettering  condi- 
tions and  in  local  pride;  it  attracts  desirable 
citizens,  enhances  values,  and  promotes  general 
prosperity. 

The  church  has  its  mission  in  all  this  civic  re- 
vival but  not  so  much  as  an  organization,  as  by 
teaching  higher  standards  and  by  influencing 
her  members  to  participate  in  improvements. 
The  pastor  can  do  his  effective  work  through  the 
citizens  he  stirs  to  activity  and  by  intelligent 
counsel. 


126  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Some  specific  things  should  be  effected  in  all 
towns  and  villages. 

I.  The  saloon  must  be  driven  out.  If  a  state 
local  option  law  gives  opportunity  that  is  usually 
the  readiest  weapon.  In  the  campaign  the 
churches  lead,  and  now  that  organized  Adult 
Bible  classes  are  sweeping  men  by  tens  of 
thousands  into  the  Sunday-school  these  classes 
have  led  to  victory  in  many  places.  So  the  town 
of  Ashland,  Ohio,  was  cleared  of  saloons,  so 
Hagerstown,  Md.,  stirred  a  wonderful  enthu- 
siasm against  the  saloon  which  though  defeated 
in  the  first  struggle  will  surely  win,  and  these  are 
few  of  many. 

Nevada,  Ohio,  a  village  of  about  one  thousand 
people  shows  what  conditions  before  and  after 
the  saloons  are.  The  statement  is  made  by  Mr. 
H.  E.  Kinsley,  ex-mayor.  His  own  personal 
transactions  in  property  follow: — 

During  saloons.  After  saloons. 

Bought  property  for  $300       Improved  $200         Sold  for  ^900 

"      314  "  700  "    '«  $t8oo 

"  "  "       250        Removed  buildings     "  lot    1200 

"     dwelling     "       300        No  improvements       "    "       500 

and  many  more  of  the  same  kind. 

More  new  sidewalks  have  been  constructed 
since  saloons  were  abolished  than  for  twenty 
years  with  saloons.  Almost  all  old  "  shacks " 
harboring  undesirable  citizens  have  been  removed 
and  good  houses  built.    Few  houses  to  rent  while 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 2  7 

at  one  time  thirty-five  were  vacant  with  saloons 
open.  The  rooms  occupied  by  saloons  are  now 
taken  by  legitimate  business.  He  then  specifies 
a  surprising  list  of  new  business  blocks  erected 
since  saloons  were  closed  and  two  new  churches 
costing  respectively  $13,000  and  $18,000.  Gro- 
cery business  never  so  prosperous  in  spite  of 
changed  conditions.  Decrease  in  bad  debts 
seventy-five  per  cent.  A  single  day's  sale  under 
saloons,  the  highest  was  $193,  without  saloons  it 
reached  $367.  Tax  levy  with  saloons  four  and  a 
half  mills,  without  saloons  the  same  but  the  bal- 
ance in  bank  for  the  little  city  increased  from 
$49  to  $716.  No  increase  of  taxes  required  after 
saloons  were  abolished  and  less  expense. 

This  is  a  sample  of  the  prosperity  that  awaits 
the  departure  of  saloons.  A  number  of  personal 
investigations  by  the  writer  in  towns  with  saloons 
and  others  without  them  in  several  states  showed 
him  the  astonishing  improvement  in  industrial, 
moral  and  social  conditions  in  the  latter.  Where 
there  is  no  local  option  it  is  possible  sometimes 
to  keep  out  the  saloon  by  energetic  resistance  to 
granting  of  licenses.  There  is  no  better  form  of 
temperance  agitation  than  such  a  campaign  and 
every  earnest  Christian  engaged  in  it  will  prob- 
ably have  the  reward  of  saving  his  boys  from  the 
perils  of  strong  drink. 

2.  The  curfew  law  which  requires  all  the 
children  to  be  in  their  homes  by  nine  o'clock 
should  be  extended  to  all  towns  and  villages  and 


128  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

with  a  good  local  government  strictly  enforced. 
The  little  towns  are  crowded  with  children  on 
the  street  late  at  night,  and  learning  all  sorts  of 
evil. 

3.  Laws  against  swearing  in  public  places 
exist  in  some  states  and  may  be  wisely  invoked 
as  the  writer  led  in  doing,  in  a  town  where  this 
demoralizing  evil  had  become  intolerable. 

4.  The  petty  gambling  in  cigar  stores  and 
other  places  by  slot  machines,  dice,  and  other 
forms  should  be  promptly  and  completely  sup- 
pressed.    It  is  specially  harmful  to  boys. 

5.  Obscene  posters  and  post  cards  or  other 
pictures  must  be  rigorously  excluded. 

6.  Sunday  laws  should  be  reasonably  but  firmly 
enforced  by  Christian  citizens. 

7.  A  local  Law  and  Order  Association  is  an 
excellent  support  to  local  officials  who  desire  to 
enforce  laws,  but  in  a  town  where  they  very  fre- 
quently find  no  apparent  public  opinion  in  favor 
of  the  enforcement.  Law  breakers  are  persistent 
in  bringing  all  kinds  of  personal  and  business 
pressure  against  the  enforcement  of  good  laws. 
By  the  association  also  the  careless  or  corrupt 
official  is  forced  to  do  his  duty.  An  Immediate 
expression  of  righteous  public  sentiment  is  made 
possible. 

8.  A  policeman  should  always  be  in  evidence 
in  the  streets.  Wild  and  giddy  girls  and  foul- 
mouthed  men  are  public  nuisances,  making  the 
town  notorious,  and  the  night  a  fearful  school 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD.  129 

of  vice.  The  quiet  policeman  in  uniform  breaks 
it  up.  He  is  worth  a  thousand  times  his  modest 
salary. 

Great  general  reforms  are  powerful  edu- 
cators in  civic  Christianity.  The  anti-slavery 
crusade  incidentally  brought  a  splendid  political 
development  to  America.  It  penetrated  into 
hamlet,  village,  and  farm-house  and  produced  a 
noble  patriotism.  Its  organization  ought  to  have 
remained  to  effect  other  reforms.  So  may  the 
equally  notable  Prohibition  movement  be  a  bless- 
ing to  permanent  local  government.  Especially 
to  rural  districts,  for  there  the  temperance  wave 
is  highest  and  its  victories  most  glorious.  Will 
not  good  citizens  maintain  the  reform  organiza- 
tion for  the  great  battles  to  come  for  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday  laws,  for  the  Bible  in  public  schools 
and  for  the  other  features  of  our  Christian 
government  ? 

Rural  American  citizenship  will  largely  decide 
our  future  issues.  Three-fourths  of  the  people 
live  in  towns,  and  on  farms,  and  the  proportion 
will  not  be  likely  now  to  decrease.  Vast  changes 
are  on  the  horizon  and  it  is  essential  that  Chris- 
tian ethics  shall  rule  political  ideals  of  the  future. 
Ultimate  America  will  be  worked  .out  in  the 
town  and  village  in  a  large  measure. 

The  ancient  theocracy,  making  God  the  real 
king,  must  be  the  Christian  citizen's  inspiration. 
His  law  of  righteousness  is  the  only  law  of  con- 
tinuous progress,  and  that  alone  will  exalt  to 


I30 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


power.*  There  is  no  union  of  state  or  church  in 
the  national  acknowledgment  of  God  which 
lowers  the  United  States  flags  on  vessels  during 
worship,  and  runs  up  the  standard  of  the  cross; 
in  the  Supreme  Court  decision  that  this  is  a 
Christian  nation;  in  the  chaplains  of  our  legis- 
latures, army  and  navy;  in  proclamations  for 
Thanksgiving  Day,  and  in  other  Christian  fea- 
tures of  our  national  life.  We  may  well  go 
further  without  danger  of  establishing  any 
church.  The  larger  recognition  of  divine  law 
may  not  solve  all  national  ills  but  it  educates 
citizenship  to  nobler  aspirations,  promotes  law 
abiding,  and  we  believe  brings  richer  blessings 
from  the  King  of  all  kings. 

*  Read— Dr.  W.  F.  Crafts'  "  Practical  Christian  Sociology," 
"  The  Sabbath  for  Man,"— Josiah  Strong's  "  Our  Country," 
"  The  New  Era,"— R.  T.  Ely's  "  "  Social  Law  of  Service  "~ 
Washington  Gladden's  "  Applied  Christianity." — Prof.  Waffle, 
"  The  Lord's  Day." 


CHAPTER  XL 

CHRISTLIKE    WORK-DAY    RELATIONS. 

The  "  hands  "  on  the  farm  used  to  be  a  great 
company.  The  march  and  music  of  the  swinging 
scythes,  periodically  sweetened  by  the  ring  of  the 
sharpening  stone,  was  a  picturesque  sight  and 
experience.  The  resounding  flip-flap  of  the 
flails  on  the  barn  floor,  the  fun  of  the  husking 
party,  the  barn  raising,  the  threshing  days,  and 
then  the  apple-butter  making,  and  the  sugar 
boiling,  and  the  butchering  days  and  nights,  who 
can  ever  forget  them  ?  Large  numbers  of  people 
were  employed,  the  farmer  and  his  "  hands  "  ate 
together  in  the  large  kitchen,  and  were  in  close 
social  relations.  This  happily  lingers  in  many 
sections  but  the  machine  has  come  to  stay  on  the 
farm,  also,  and  helpers  go  to  other  occupations. 

It  was  feared  the  machine  would  leave  an 
army  of  unemployed.  But  the  fewer  now  needed 
are  harder  to  secure  than  the  large  number  of 
former  times.  In  Arkansas  and  elsewhere  dur- 
ing cotton  picking,  the  farmer  drives  into  town 
131 


132  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

in  the  morning  and  loads  up  his  people  after 
offering  large  pay,  and  brings  them  back  at 
night.  So  in  all  sections  and  for  all  kinds  of 
farm  work  it  is  difficult  to  get  help.  The  labor 
problem  is  becoming  a  farm  problem.  Immi- 
grant labor  is  sought  for  and  must  soon  be  used 
in  large  numbers  for  the  American  is  doing 
something  else  in  cities  and  towns.  This  will 
introduce  strange  tongues,  alien  customs,  and 
break  the  former  close  social  relations  on  the 
farm  and  in  the  village.  But  even  here  the  farm 
will  reach  the  earliest  solution. 

Few  people  have  any  conception  of  the  magni- 
tude of  the  American  farmer's  business.  Let 
us  try  to  see  it  with   somewhat  larger  vision.* 

*FARM  PRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
1907. 
World  AhnanaCy  igog. 

Value 

Animals,  number 204,101,922  $4,423,897,853 

Bees,  swarms 4,109,426  10,186,513 

Butter,  pounds 531,478,141  113,188,453 

Cheese,        "     301,844,172  28,6ii,'732 

Cotton,        "     5,392,944,000  551,506,696 

Hay,  tons 66,677,000  743,507,000 

Milk,   gallons 7,256,804,304     

Orchard,  bushels 212,365,000  83,753,000 

Potatoes,  Irish,  bushels 207,942,000  183,889,000 

"       Sweet,         "     42,517,414  19,860,919 

Sugar,  pounds,  ) 

all  kinds,       \ 1,500,000,000  51,000,000 

Vegetables 113,644,398 

Wool,  pounds 298,915,130  129,410,000 

Wheat,  bushels 634,087,000  554,437,000 

Corn,           '•         2,592,320,000  1,336,901,000 

Oats,           '•        754,443,000  334,568,000 

Poultry,  number 250,623,414     

Eggs,  dozen 1,293,662,433     

See  for    comparison    Census    Bulletin  237,  pages  12,   13, 

giving  production  for  1899. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  133 

We  use  round  figures  to  be  more  graphic.  Of 
the  nearly  30,000,000  of  people  employed  in  all 
occupations  in  the  United  States,  more  than 
10,000,000  are  working  on  farms,  and  adding  the 
mechanics,  laborers,  and  professional  men  and 
business  men  in  villages  and  towns  we  are  con- 
cerned in  our  rural  labor  problem  with  five 
millions  more,  or  fully  one-half  of  all  people  in 
every  occupation  in  America. 

The  labor  and  capital  issues  are  acute  in  the 
large  cities,  but  one-half  of  all  the  working- 
people  are  in  ones  or  twos  on  farms,  or  in  town 
mechanical  pursuits.  Here  in  the  closer  indi- 
vidual contact,  and  warmer  personal  relations, 
the  employer  and  employee  are  not  separated  and 
antagonistic,  and  the  country  as  it  comes  into 
more  intimate  relations  with  the  city  by  modern 
inter-communication  will  probably  have  large 
part  in  restoring  Christian  relations  in  the 
industrial  world.* 

There  are  5,739,657  farms  in  the  United  States, 
of  which  3,700,000  are  farmed  by  their  owners, 
so  that  less  than  two  laborers  on  an  average  are 
regularly  employed  on  each  farm.  The  employer 
and  one  helper  work  side  by  side,  the  employer 
toiling  as  hard  as  his  helper,  and  the  two  on 
thoroughly  fraternal  terms.  The  tenant  farmer 
also   usually   employs   one   hand,   often   in   both 

*  See  Roads's  "Christ  Enthroned  in  the  Industrial  World." 


134  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

cases  on  part  time  or  by  the  day,  but  the  relations 
are  close  and  friendly. 

The  value  of  these  nearly  six  million  farms  is 
twenty  and  a  half  billions  of  dollars,  the  annual 
products  being  in  1899  $4,739,118,752  and  in 
1907  estimated  at  seven  billions  and  nearly  five 
hundred  millions.'''  This  is  one-half  of  the  total 
value  of  all  manufactures  in  the  United  States. 
The  dairy  business  alone  yields  half  a  billion  dol- 
lars a  year;  animals  on  the  farm  are  worth  five 
billions  and  the  cereal  products  annually  over  two 
billions,  or  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars. 
Twenty  per  cent,  of  the  wheat  of  the  whole  world 
is  raised  in  the  United  States,  seventy  per  cent, 
of  the  corn,  and  fully  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
cotton  of  the  world. 

Think  of  this  army  of  ten  millions  of  workers 
on  our  farms  not  massed  by  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands in  a  few  places,  or  unknown  to  each  other 
and  perhaps  designated  by  numbered  tags,  but  on 
nearly  six  million  farms  by  twos  or  threes  on 
each  place,  happy,  prosperous,  well-fed,  and  away 
from  the  distractions,  excesses,  and  many  temp- 
tations of  crowded  cities.  Is  it  not  on  these 
farms  where  labor  problems  may  be  mightily  in- 
fluenced toward  a  right  solution?  Even  if  the 
foreign  laborer  comes  to  the  farm  there  are  yet 
the  very  small  number  that  makes  social  rela- 
tions easier.  May  it  not  be  that  rural  sections 
shall  have  the  controlling  voice   in  settling  in- 

*  Census  Bulletin  237,  pp.  4,  5,  and  World  Almanac,  1909. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  135 

dustrial  difficulties?  For  the  solution  must  come 
with  brotherly  love  from  both  sides,  and  the  first 
step  necessary  will  be  individual  development  of 
the  work-people.  This  is  exceedingly  difficult 
with  thousands  herded  in  one  place  as  in  the 
large  city  factories  or  in  mines,  but  how  much 
easier  with  two  or  three  on  a  farm. 

The  foreign  laborer  is  new  on  the  farm  but 
he  has  long  been  a  problem  in  mining  villages, 
factory  towns,  and  others.  In  many  places  the 
foreign  laborer  has  brought  a  social  deluge.  He 
has  completely  changed  the  customs,  business, 
and  even  the  language  of  New  England  farms. 
French  is  spoken  on  the  streets  and  religious 
processions  with  noisy  bands  break  the  quiet  of 
the  old  time  Sabbath  and  wake  new  echoes  for 
the  Puritan  descendants,  who  declare,  "  We  can't 
get  used  to  it." 

But  there,  and  in  Pennsylvania  coal  and  coke 
regions,  already  earnest  young  Christians  are 
studying  the  languages  of  these  people  and  going 
among  them  to  win  them  to  Christ.  The  immi- 
gration peril  is  passing  into  a  wonderful  oppor- 
tunity in  Christ's  kingdom  under  this  new  spirit. 
And  nothing  will  advance  the  labor  and  capital 
problems  more  surely  to  their  Christlike  solution. 
The  gospel  for  the  social  life  goes  with  indi- 
vidual salvation. 

One  individual  farmer  cannot  solve  the  labor 
problem  very  well  even  for  himself.  The  church 
can  only  assist  by  teaching  the  brotherhood  of 


136  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

man  under  the  divine  fatherhood  and  by  ethical 
teaching  on  industrial  rights  and  duties.  "  No 
rights  without  duties,  no  duties  without  rights  " 
is  a  good  platform  for  others  than  Socialists,  who 
first  announced  it.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that 
Christian  farmers  employing  laborers  should 
come  to  a  mutual  understanding.  They  should 
quietly  get  together  and  in  the  Christlike  spirit 
decide  upon  the  largest  wages  they  can  afford 
and  the  special  housing  of  their  work-people. 
The  tenant  house  on  the  farm  ought  to  be  re- 
paired and  made  thoroughly  comfortable  and 
attractive,  for  this  is  a  good  business  proposition. 
The  farmer's  family  may  show  many  little  kind- 
nesses to  these  people  and  to  their  families.  Large 
factories  and  business  places  in  cities  have  come 
to  a  remarkable  development  of  "  Welfare  work." 
The  comfort  of  the  man,  his  health,  his  intellec- 
tual enrichment,  and  moral  quickening  are  pro- 
vided for  by  great  dining-rooms,  libraries,  rest 
rooms,  entertainments,  and  other  kindly  atten- 
tions. Some  of  these  establishments  have  a 
trained  expert  in  such  work  in  charge.  Of 
course  it  pays  in  financial  returns  to  these  Chris- 
tian manufacturers  but  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  this  is  the  motive  for  it,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  American  Cash  Register  Company,  the 
Heinz  Company,  and  the  Stetson  Company, 
three  very  notable  instances  of  large  welfare 
work  in  beautiful  spirit.* 

*  Wyckoff,  "  The  Workers—The  West." 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  137 

The  spirit  of  this  kindliness  may  be  on  the 
little  farm.  It  will  improve  the  work  and  in- 
crease profits.  The  workman  will  make  the  in- 
terests of  the  farm  his  own  to  the  great  comfort 
and  satisfaction  of  the  farmer  who  employs  him. 

The  higher  intelligence  of  the  laborer  is  a 
paying  asset.  Whatever  arouses  a  real  interest 
in  farm  conditions,  methods  of  cultivation,  care 
of  stock,  and  the  latest  economies  on  the  farm  is 
immensely  valuable.  The  man  may  well  be  en- 
couraged to  read  farm  journals,  magazines,  and 
books  after  the  proprietor  has  read  them.  The 
pictorial  magazines  and  interesting  books  will  be 
enjoyed  by  his  family.  Self-interest,  if  it  were 
not  always  stupidly  blind,  would  dictate  the 
largest  intellectual  broadening  and  enriching  of 
the  living  machine  upon  which  profits  so  largely 
depend,  just  as  machines  of  iron  are  sheltered, 
repainted,  and  oiled  by  the  thrifty  farmer.  Com- 
fortable living  with  those  who  labor  for  him,  less 
need  of  supervision  of  their  work,  lessening  of 
worry  about  the  work,  and  the  creation  of  an 
atmosphere  of  good  will  and  good  cheer  will  re- 
sult from  all  this  brotherly  interest. 

His  moral  character  gives  results  in  even  more 
profitable  ways.  The  shrewd  farmer,  who  cares 
for  none  of  these  kindly  ways,  may  imagine  that 
he  can  watch  the  workmen,  that  they  will  have 
little  opportunity  on  the  farm  to  be  dishonest  or 
idle,  and  that  he  will  be  more  comfortable  in 
keeping  such  people  at  a  distance.    That  all  wel- 


1 28  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

fare  work  Is  a  beautiful  sentiment  but  not  *'  busi- 
ness." But  he  will  learn  that  his  workmen  soon 
know  the  game  of  watch  and  can  play  it  also. 
He  may  discharge  them  in  rapid  succession  and 
instruct  others  if  he  likes  that  sort  of  a  thing, 
for  as  Lincoln  used  to  say,  "  For  those  that  like 
that  sort  of  a  thing  that  is  the  kind  of  a  thing 
they  like."  But  the  lines  on  his  face  will  deepen 
and  the  burdens  grow  heavier.  The  way  of  the 
transgressor  of  brotherliness  is  becoming  in- 
creasingly hard.  The  burden  of  love  is  very 
light  and  the  yoke  of  mutual  help  is  easy.  The 
crop  of  character  in  his  own  children  and  in 
work-people  on  the  farm  is  the  richest  and  most 
enjoyable  he  will  ever  produce. 

If  the  pursuit  of  happiness  is  one  of  the  in- 
alienable rights  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
secured  for  us  it  might  be  well  to  pursue  happi- 
ness in  a  really  sensible  way. 

Keeping  the  Sabbath  as  free  as  possible  from 
work  is  more  than  a  Christian  duty.  It  is  wise 
and  profitable  economics.  There  are  many  illus- 
trations of  the  fact  that  a  man  will  do  more  work 
in  a  year  on  six  days  a  week  and  religiously  rest- 
ing the  seventh  than  on  a  steady  seven  days  a 
v/eek.    Animals  will  do  the  same. 

Two  families  in  the  early  days  started  from 
New  York  state  to  Tennessee  by  the  covered 
wagon  and  four  horses  each,  the  horses  about  the 
same  kind  in  every  way.  The  one  rested  every 
Sabbath,  the  other  pushed  on  anxious  to  reach 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  139 

his  farm  for  early  planting.  The  Sabbath  keeper 
reached  there  first,  his  horses  in  fine  condition  for 
immediate  service  on  the  new  place.  The  other 
came  on  a  few  days  afterward  with  horses  too 
tired  to  do  good  work.  The  Christian  farmer  has 
reflected  upon  all  phases  of  his  work  which  is 
necessary  and  merciful  on  the  Sabbath  and  he 
avoids  all  the  rest.* 

In  the  suburb  the  servant  girl  question  is  a 
burning  one.  Who  can  throw  light  upon  that? 
It  seems  to  many  impertinent  to  suggest  closer 
relations,  though  one  would  think  it  important  to 
get  at  least  sympathetic  touch  with  the  woman 
who  prepares  the  food  for  the  mistress  and  her 
cultured  family,  that  it  may  always  be  sanitary 
if  not  appetizing  and  spotlessly  clean.  The  lofty 
disdain  of  people  upon  whom  one  depends  is 
ridiculous.  Close  intellectual  fellowship  and 
social  intercourse  is  not  possible,  shall  we  say? 
But  Henry  Ward  Beecher  tells  how  he  found 
some  of  his  richest  illustrations  in  conversation 
with  workmen  and  servants.  They  often  know 
one  thing  exceedingly  well,  and  Beecher  was 
after  that  special  knowledge.  Then  when  he 
touched  that  subject  it  was  with  most  illuminat- 
ing detail  that  made  his  preaching  such  a  delight. 
Such  kindly  intellectual  relation  is  often  a  rich 
receiving. 

Genuine  appreciation  of  good  work  by  ser- 
vants secures  better  and  better  work.  Do  not 
*  Dr.  W.  F.  Crafts'  "The  Sabbath  for  Man." 


I40 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


mistresses  and  masters  want  this  better  work? 
It  is  beautiful  to  see  still  so  many  noble  men  and 
women  who  know  how  to  be  Christian  masters 
and  ladies,  and  who  have  gathered  about  them 
in  life-long  service  a  company  of  capable,  honest, 
and  faithful  workers  for  all  the  comforts  of  those 
happy  homes.  These  men  and  women  have 
blessed  all  who  are  employed  in  their  homes  but 
they  have  shared  with  them  in  richer  blessings. 
And  he  who  was  himself  the  Carpenter  has 
abundantly  blessed  them  all. 

In  all  daily  work  the  loftiest  religious  motives 
may  be  present.  As  Phillips  Brooks  says,  "  Our 
daily  work,  the  constant  occupation  of  our  life, 
needs  to  be  done  in  God's  presence  and  to  be 
shone  through  and  through  by  him.  It  is  a  chan- 
nel of  utterance  for  the  divine  life  in  the  soul." 
And  in  attitude  toward  all  we  do  let  us  heed  the 
word  of  George  Washington,  "  Labor  to  keep 
alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark  of  celestial 
fire  called  conscience." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    COUNTRY    STORE    IN    THE    KING's    BUSINESS. 

Among  the  unquestionably  real  stages  of  prog- 
ress in  Christianizing  the  world  is  the  moral 
improvement  in  retail  business.  There  are  men 
in  middle  life  who  remember  the  methods  of  a 
generation  ago  in  the  country  store,  and,  for  that 
matter,  in  all  city  stores.  No  price  mark  was  on 
any  goods  but  the  proprietor's  secret  letters  or 
cabalistic  signs.  The  writer  as  a  boy  salesman  in 
a  country  store  for  three  years  used  to  find  much 
amusement  in  constructing  price  marks  from 
sentences  selected  as  the  secret.  A  sentence  or 
phrase  which  contains  ten  letters,  none  of  them 
repeated,  was  required.  For  some  time  our  cost 
mark  was  based  on,  ''  Come  and  buy."  Each 
letter  in  order  stood  for  one  of  the  ten  figures  of 
Arabic  numerals,  and  thus  it  was  easy  to  mark 
the  cost  with  letters  that  only  the  merchant  or 
salesman  could  understand. 

Usually  only  the  cost  price  was  marked  and 
the  asking  price  came  to  be  understood  from  the 
cost.    Thus  a  basis  for  a  sale  was  laid  and  the 
141 


142  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

prospective  buyer  began  his  *'  jewing  down." 
He  promptly  objected  to  the  price  asked  for  the 
article,  and  the  salesman  after  declaring  it  was  a 
fair  price  and  could  not  be  lowered,  did  after 
some  chaffing  lower  it  cautiously.  Then  another 
attack,  a  vigorous  defense,  and  a  little  lower,  still 
leaving  good  room  for  profits.  So  the  sharp  in- 
tellectual fencing  continued,  and  after  many 
more  words  in  the  contest,  the  price  was  finally 
accepted,  the  goods  bought,  and  possibly  charged 
to  be  paid  when  crops  came  in.  The  buyer  went 
home  chuckling  to  himself  that  he  had  made  a 
fine  bargain,  compelling  a  great  reduction  in 
price,  while  the  salesman  laughed  at  the  buyer's 
simplicity  and  knew  that  after  all  he  received 
more  than  he  expected. 

In  those  days  prices  were  made  for  each  indi- 
vidual buyer.  The  merchant  and  his  "  clerks  " 
knew  the  character  of  every  man  and  woman  in 
such  dealings  and  they  knew  exactly  where  to 
put  the  asking  figure  to  get  out  safely  in  the  long 
struggle.  No  two  people  probably  were  asked 
the  same  price  except  for  a  few  staple  articles 
on  which  there  was  no  haggling.  The  contests 
were  not  unen  joy  able  but  they  were  exceedingly 
demoralizing.  One  merchant,  for  instance,  had 
a  suit  of  ready-made  clothing  to  sell.  A  fair 
price  was  asked,  fifteen  dollars,  and  being  a  man 
tired  of  the  old  way  and  seeking  to  establish  a 
one-price  system,  he  told  his  customer  solemnly 
on  his  word  that  fifteen  dollars  was  the  lowest 


CHRIS  TIA N  PRINCIPLES  MUS T  BE  SPREA  D.  1 43 

possible  price.  The  customer,  a  sharp-tbngued 
and  snappy  man,  laughed  immoderately  and  said, 
"  Oh,  yes !  you  storekeepers  are  great  cheats  any- 
way, and  take  all  you  can  get."  The  merchant 
laid  the  suit  away  and  then  brought  one  after 
another  of  different  prices  rapidly  until  he  had 
completely  confused  the  man.  He  knew  that  the 
first  suit  had  caught  the  man's  fancy,  and  after 
chaffing  and  arguing,  crimination  and  recrimina- 
tion, had  gone  on  for  a  long  time,  he  said  as  if 
suddenly  recollecting,  "  O,  I  have  a  splendid  suit 
I  want  you  to  see.  But  it  is  twenty-five  dollars 
and  not  a  cent  less!  I  am  sure  you  will  like  it." 
He  pretended  to  look  for  it  in  several  places  and 
at  last  brought  back  the  suit  he  had  sincerely 
offered  for  fifteen  dollars,  but  now  being  on  his 
mettle,  he  loudly  demanded  twenty-five  for  it! 

Then. commenced  another  tussle,  and  little  by 
little,  the  merchant  came  down  to  twenty-two 
dollars  at  which  he  sold  it.  It  was  an  interesting 
fight  to  both  and  both  were  delighted  with  the 
outcome,  but  the  merchant  said  to  me  afterward, 
"  Wasn't  he  legitimate  prey  ?  "  The  contest  was 
always  unequal,  if  only  the  foolish  buyer  had 
allowed  himself  to  know  it.  The  merchant  was 
more  or  less  an  expert,  the  real  cost  was  known 
only  to  him,  the  kind  of  a  dogged  fight  the  par- 
ticular customer  would  make  he  knew,  and  his 
simple  expedient  was  to  begin  at  a  high  enough 
price  to  win  in  the  end.  In  any  case  he  could 
finally  refuse  to  sell. 


144 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


Then  weights  and  lengths  were  always  short. 
A  piece  of  dress  goods  might  be  marked  ten 
yards  but  if  it  measured  nine  and  a  half  yards 
it  was  readily  acquiesced  in,  or  a  bolt  of  ribbon 
would  be  marked  ten  yards  and  be  nearly  a  yard 
short.  For  short  weight  of  packed  coffees,  teas, 
or  other  articles,  the  ready  excuse  was  they  dried 
out  in  the  store,  but  of  course  they  had  never 
been  acknowledged  damp.  This  dishonesty  was 
general  and  nothing  better  was  expected. 

There  was  no  exchange  of  goods  thought  of  in 
these  stores.  Grudgingly  when  it  could  not  be 
refused,  the  merchant  allowed  a  discount  on  the 
charge.  For  the  customer  had  a  ready  weapon 
in  his  long-standing  account.  But  gradually  the 
exchange  came  to  be  demanded  and  conceded,  at 
first  only  when  another  article  was  purchased. 
Some  of  these  dishonesties  are  still  practiced. 

Adulteration  of  goods  is  still  a  very  great  evil. 
Not  always  the  fault  of  the  merchant  solely,  for 
buyers  are  willing  to  be  humbugged  if  it  is  not 
exposed.  For  instance  a  buyer  would  come  in 
for  Java  coffee  and  would  be  told,  honestly,  that 
it  cannot  be  had  for  that  price.  He  would  retort 
that  so-and-so  sells  it  at  that  price.  Then  the 
merchant  said,  "  It  cannot  be  genuine  Java !  " 
But  he  was  told  it  was  very  conceited  to  claim 
superior  honesty  to  anyone  else,  so  he  usually 
ended  by  selling  the  next  man  "  Java "  at  any 
price  he  wanted  it.  One  *'  Christian  "  merchant 
taught  his  new  clerk  to  sell  in  this   fraudulent 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 4^ 

way,  and  the  boy  learned  it  well,  but  he  tried  also 
to  steal  from  the  shrewd  merchant,  and  I  found 
him  in  the  penitentiary.  It  was  all  right  to  de- 
fraud the  buyer  but  the  good  man  drew  the  line 
at  taking  anything  from  himself.  In  the  country 
store  there  are  many  who  excuse  themselves  for 
such  dealings,  but  let  us  be  thankful  that  a  new 
race  of  honest  men  have  come  into  some  of  these 
stores  and  they  are  doing  business  in  Christ's 
spirit. 

On  the  part  of  the  buyer  the  long  credits  de- 
manded are  a  great  hardship  and  frequently  a 
wrong  to  the  merchant.  There  are  prosperous 
farmers  who  pay  only  once  a  year.  The  annual 
settling  day  over,  they  invest  all  but  a  small  sur- 
plus in  an  interest-bearing  way.  Then  their  ac- 
counts begin  and  run  without  a  payment  until 
next  settling  day.  Some  of  these  men  are 
thoughtless  about  the  inconvenience  they  cause 
and  do  not  realize  they  are  drawing  interest  on 
other  people's  money.  Workmen  like  carpenters, 
masons,  and  painters  on  farm  buildings  are  com- 
pelled to  wait  for  months  before  being  paid,  the 
money  due  to  them  drawing  interest  for  the  good 
farmer. 

This  practice  of  long  credits  is  one  of  the  worst 
of  country  business  evils.  Artisans  and  laborers 
run  up  bills  beyond  their  ability  to  pay  and  then 
shamelessly  default.  When  the  merchant  com- 
plains, they  go  to  another  store.  The  writer  was 
obliged  in  the  store  frequently  to  request  some 


146  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

workman's  wife  to  purchase  more  moderately,  for 
we  knew  it  would  be  impossible  to  pay  in  full, 
and  at  times  was  compelled  to  refuse  everything 
except  bare  necessaries  of  life.  Then  she  went 
elsewhere,  and  at  four  or  five  stores  such  people 
ran  up  great  bills  beyond  their  ability  to  pay  for 
years  to  come.  But  the  merchants  were  not 
blameless  for  they  lacked  the  courage  to  unite 
against  such  practices  as  they  now  do,  and  they 
encouraged  extravagant  buying  by  these  people. 
In  some  sections  the  story  of  these  evils  reads 
like  ancient  history  but  they  are  fearful  and  lively 
in  other  places  yet.  On  the  whole  there  is  in- 
spiring moral  progress  in  business.  The  four 
cardinal  principles  of  honest  selling,  as  one  great 
Christian   merchant  *   expressed   them — 

"  One  fair  price  to  all,  plainly  marked  on  the  goods, — 

Goods  freely  exchanged  for  cash, — 

Full  lengths  and  weights  as  indicated, — 

Goods  truthfully  described  as  to  quality,  merits,  and  defects," 

have  won  their  way  to  general  acceptance.  They 
are  indeed  "  the  four-leaved  clover "  for  both 
buyer  and  seller.  It  is  an  interesting  story  how 
that  merchant  had  to  fight  step  by  step  for  these 
principles  and  how  many  years'  fight  it  was 
before  victory.  For  the  buyer  there  is  the  plain 
duty  of  paying  cash  at  the  time  of  purchase,  or 
its  full  equivalent  in  a  short  credit  for  con- 
venience only.     Where  these  principles   do  not 

*  John  Wanamaker,  in  advertisements. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD,  j  47 

yet  prevail,  the  duty  of  Christian  men,  buyers  and 
merchants,  is  to  seek  earnestly  to  have  them 
adopted.  There  are  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
the  country  church  so  distressing  as  the  familiar 
examples  of  unscrupulous  merchants  who  are  yet 
members,  or  purchasers  also  members  of  the 
church  who  do  not  pay  their  debts.  Everybody 
knows  them  as  they  sit  prominently  in  the  church, 
and  the  most  powerful  appeals  to  the  unsaved 
strike  these  "  hypocrites  "  as  a  dead  buffer. 

Honest  business  must  obtain  also  on  the  farm 
in  dealing  with  the  world.  There  is  the  dairy 
with  its  proverbial  temptations  to  dishonesty,  or 
equally  reprehensible,  its  carelessness  as  to  the 
perfect  health  of  the  cows,  and  absolute  cleanli- 
ness in  handling  the  milk.  There  are  the  horse 
deals,  in  which  deacons  and  David  Harums  vie 
in  lying ;  there  are  the  "  fake  "  fresh  cows ;  the 
too-young  veal ;  and  what  not  of  other  sharp 
practices  of  innocent  looking  farmers.  "  Busi- 
ness is  business  "  no  longer  avails  to  excuse  the 
ill-gotten  gains,  for  now  that  is  not  good  business 
and  not  long  profitable,  fortunately. 

The  Christian  farmer  must  fully  bring  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  into  business  dealings.  He 
is  called  of  God  to  serve  the  world's  table  and 
God  is  his  overseer  in  his  deepest  moral  con- 
sciousness. He  refuses  like  Abraham  Lincoln  in 
the  country  store  simply  to  act  with  "  law 
honesty,"  the  sort  that  goes  to  the  extent  of  ques- 
tionable  dealings   short   of   crime.     He   will   be 


148  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Strictly  true  to  the  interests  of  his  customer,  and 
the  farmer  can  more  easily  without  great  finan- 
cial loss  be  discriminately  honest  than  the  mer- 
chant in  the  fierce  competition  of  great  cities. 
But  the  Christian  man  does  not  fail  to  do  right- 
eously because  it  costs  money,  or  he  may  lose  by 
it.  The  pure  money  argument  is  the  thief's  or 
the  burglar's  plea. 

So  the  Christian  farmer  fully  recognizes  his 
Divine  call  to  do  his  service  to  humanity  and  he 
performs  it  as  unto  God.  It  is  really  only  v^hen 
men  ^oX  the  religious  motive  for  business  honesty 
and  efficiency  that  they  rise  above  temptation.  It 
is  a  noble  service  to  man  to  provide  the  best  food 
for  him,  clean,  wholesome  and  nourishing  to  his 
brain  and  body.  It  is  the  service  Christ  himself 
rendered  the  five  thousand  at  one  time,  which  the 
Heavenly  Father  bestows  upon  the  countless 
millions  of  his  children  day  by  day,  upon  which 
he  has  expended  marvelous  wisdom  and  power, 
and  which  he  teaches  men  to  pray  to  him  for 
daily.  The  new  enthusiasm  for  farming  arises 
from  the  higher  conception  of  it  rather  than  from 
its  greater  promise  in  money  making.  It  is  a 
vocation  for  the  world's  good,  scientific,  noble,  of 
unlimited  possibilities  of  improving  its  products, 
and  with  a  splendid  opportunity  in  it  for  a  fine 
Christian  manhood.  To  be  honest  in  it  in  every 
way  then  becomes  a  matter  of  religion.  The 
gospel  of  love  to  all  men,  the  Christian  principle 
of  the  brotherhood  of  the  race,  the  personal  re- 


CHRIS  TIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUS T  BE  SPREA D.  i 


49 


sponsibility  of  man  to  God,  and  the  supreme  duty 
in  all  life  to  grow  a  noble  character,  enter  into 
his  business,  and  he  then  becomes  more  than 
honest  in  all  his  dealings.  He  becomes  efficient 
in  his  service  to  mankind  in  new  and  better  ways. 
He  improves  his  product  perseveringly.  He  is 
alert  to  discover  and  to  utilize  every  new  method 
that  will  enhance  his  service  to  the  world.  He 
no  longer  separates  his  Sunday  "  service  "  which 
is  simply  worship,  from  his  Monday  business 
which  is  really  service  both  to  God  and  man.  All 
his  life  becomes  holy  and  all  is  done  under  the 
consciousness  of  God's  guidance  and  approval. 

The  country  store  is  a  great  social  and  re- 
ligious opportunity.  Its  atmosphere  may  be 
clean  and  stimulating  to  good  character.  Its 
conversation  may  be  upon  scientific  farming, 
latest  news  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  noble  re- 
forms, and  Christian  progress.  The  proprietor 
and  his  neighbors  may  make  it  uplifting  to  the 
boy  and  the  young  man.  It  may  be  as  yet  the 
only  social  center  of  the  village  or  farming  dis- 
trict, but  it  may  be  helpful  in  every  good  work. 
It  may  be  made  a  circulating  library  of  best  and 
latest  books  as  some  such  stores  have  become. 
A  small  fee  for  each  book  taken  out,  or  an  annual 
membership  meets  all  expenses  and  gives  a  small 
profit.  A  whole  neighborhood  may  be  blessed  by 
these  and  other  helpful  enterprises  centering  in 
the  country  store  when  once  it  does  business  for 
the  King. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CHRISTIAN  HOME  LIFE  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

The  rapidly  spreading  drift  to  country  home 
life  is  evidence  enough  of  its  superior  attrac- 
tiveness. The  city  for  great  business,  the  coun- 
try for  sweetest  of  homes  is  universal  conviction. 
For  all  that  men  want  of  a  home  the  country 
home  in  the  suburb  stands. 

The  Christian  home  of  the  future  will  be  in 
the  country.  So  we  will  seek  in  it  the  ideal 
comforts  of  the  home. 

I.  Perfect  rest  for  tired  brains  and  hearts,  far 
enough  away  from  scenes  of  business  to  make  it 
easy  to  drop  its  cares.  But  rest  of  the  kind  that 
recuperates  energies  comes  only  with  new  inspi- 
rations, new  thoughts,  and  feelings  crowding  out 
the  details  of  exacting  business  or  professional 
life.  There  must  be  something  to  take  up  in  the 
country  as  well  as  business  anxieties  to  lay  down, 
else  the  anxieties  will  not  down.  Absolute 
vacuity  of  mind  is  not  possible  to  a  waking  man 
so  long  intensely  active.  So  there  are  some  men 
ISO 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD.  1 5 1 

who  go  to  the  country  with  no  interest  in  fields, 
or  flowers,  or  landscape ;  no  exhilarating  pleas- 
ure in  country  scenes  or  employments,  and  no 
concern  about  the  neighborhood  in  which  wife 
and  children  spend  all  day  and  the  children  get 
their  environment  for  character.  These  men 
speedily  find  the  city  business  rushing  in  as  a 
flood  over  their  hearts  in  spite  of  long  distance 
away  in  their  country  homes.  Refreshing  relief 
comes  from  the  substitution  of  the  exhilarating 
new  things  of  God's  wonderful  country  and  the 
inrush  of  thoughts  and  emotions  it  inspires. 
When  the  mountains  and  the  fields  and  clouds 
stir  them  with  some  of  Ruskin's  awe  and  thrill- 
ing joy,  when  the  violet  or  the  strawberry  come 
to  mean  somewhat  of  wonder  they  had  for  Fara- 
day, when  they  see  God  as  V/hittier  and  Words- 
worth do  in  nature,  then  will  business  cares  be 
forgotten  and  the  whole  man  be  renewed  in 
strength. 

2.  Time  for  family  fellowship  and  loving  at- 
tentions is  another  object  of  the  ideal  home. 
Only  the  blessed  leisure  of  rural  life  permits  real 
communion  of  father,  mother  and  children.  In 
the  cities  the  evenings  are  crowded  as  fearfully 
as  the  days.  The  exciting  rounds  of  entertain- 
ments, dinners,  receptions,  debutantes,  breakfasts 
at  noon,  socials;  of  lectures,  conventions,  board 
meetings;  of  clubs,  lodges,  anniversaries;  of 
euchre  parties,  private  musicales,  theatres  and 
theatre  parties,  grand  operas  and  dinners  follow- 


152  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

ing ;  of  base-ball,  football  by  day  and  celebrations 
of  them  late  into  the  night,  extend  to  the  small 
hours  of  the  morning  and  make  the  night  so  ex- 
hausting to  the  women  that  they  spend  many 
mornings  in  bed  and  long  afternoons  in  naps. 
Home  in  the  modern  city  is  to  many  the  place  for 
long  sleeps  and  no  real  life.  The  toiling,  busi- 
ness-burdened husbands  get  out  of  many  social 
excesses,  for  the  absence  of  men  from  these  func- 
tions is  almost  as  serious  as  their  absence  from 
church  meetings,  but  they  must  attend  all  too 
many.  The  little  children  know  next  to  nothing 
of  their  mothers  but  have  plenty  of  nurses  and 
governesses.  How  they  and  the  fathers  welcome 
the  sweet  home  circle  of  the  country !  There  for 
once  do  they  become  fully  acquainted  with  their 
own  families.  And  blessed  be  the  families  who 
have  always  lived  in  the  country. 

3.  Moral  and  spiritual  replenishing  for  the 
world's  struggle  ought  to  be  in  the  home.  All 
men,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  do  come  to 
the  home  for  moral  strengthening.  Tired  to  ex- 
haustion with  conflicts  and  fearful  temptations, 
fighting  bravely  against  wrong,  sometimes  yield- 
ing, they  come  home  for  help.  To  be  sadly  disap- 
pointed in  many  homes  but  Low  blessedly  they 
are  helped  in  the  sweet  Christian  family  circle 
of  the  suburb,  or  far  out  in  the  country  town! 
That  is,  if  they  have  been  wise  enough  to  begin 
home  life  as  Christians  and  to  maintain  religion 
there. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD,  j  53 

The  home  Hfe  of  country  people  who  live 
wholly  there,  business  and  all,  if  it  is  truly  Chris- 
tian, will  surely  play  a  large  part  in  Christianiz- 
ing rural  districts.  The  home  is  the  first  insti- 
tution God  gave  to  man.  It  began  in  Eden,  and 
for  ages  after  that  the  home  included  in  itself 
church,  school,  civic  center,  and  home  in  one. 
The  father  was  priest,  civil  ruler,  teacher,  espe- 
cially the  religious  head  of  the  home.  The 
church  came  later  to  help  parents  more  fully  to 
discharge  their  religious  duties.  The  church, 
therefore,  is  the  religious  specialization  of  the 
home,  and  the  home  must  ever  be  in  the  closest 
relation  with  the  church  because  the  church  was 
organized  to  reinforce  the  home's  religious  life. 

The  home  is  everywhere  the  unit  of  civiliza- 
tion. Individuals  at  best  are  incomplete  and 
fractional.  Only  when  in  relation  to  each  other 
as  members  of  a  family  and  fully  adjusted  to 
those  relations  are  individuals  fully  developed. 
Individual  growth  of  character  early  reaches  the 
social  in  his  human  nature  and  then  grows  to- 
ward others,  being  completed  in  the  relations  of 
husband,  father,  brother,  friend.  Like  the  trees 
of  the  country  orchard  the  full  growth  of  each 
tree,  twenty  feet  apart  from  others,  brings  the 
branches  of  all  together  in  interlacing  above  and 
the  roots  of  all  together  in  interlocking  below. 
This  is  Professor  Drummond's  fine  thought  in 
"  Evolution  of  Man  for  Others."  * 

*  See  "Ascent  of  Man."    Drummond. 


154  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

It  is  then  the  opportunity  of  Christian  homes 
in  the  country  to  realize  their  power  in  village, 
town,  or  farming  district  and  to  combine  for  the 
coming  of  Christ's  Kingdom  there.  It  is  when 
these  homes  become  centers  and  fountains  of 
purity,  Christian  character,  and  richest  happi- 
ness that  they  uplift  the  town.  A  few  such  homes 
create  the  new  atmosphere  and  moral  tonic.  The 
joy  and  cheer  of  these  homes  become  infectious, 
and  in  fearsome  contrast  will  stand  the  empti- 
ness and  curse  of  the  selfish  life. 

The  head  of  that  Christian  home  in  his  new  joy 
and  reinvigoration  forcibly  proves  to  his  busi- 
ness associates  that  godliness  is  profitable  in  the 
present  life.  He  makes  all  other  hearts  hungry 
for  the  same  kind  of  a*  home  and  for  the  religion 
which  creates  it. 

The  mothers  and  daughters  of  that  home  in 
society  are  an  influence  of  immeasurable  weight 
for  nobler  life.  Christian  life  in  the  home  counts 
for  much  more  than  it  does  confined  to  the 
church  building.  The  sweet  fruits  of  woman's 
Christian  home  life  in  beautiful  character  are 
wanted  universally. 

The  children,  too,  at  school  and  at  play  are 
unconscious  missionaries  advocating  such  homes 
to  all.  Their  joy  is  the  strength  of  their  concrete 
plea  for  God  in  the  home.  Surely  it  is  by  simply 
having  a  truly  godly  home  that  the  whole  com- 
miunity  Vvill  be  influenced.  And  such  homes  will 
exercise  a  large  hospitality,  a  warm-hearted  neigh- 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD,  j  ee 

borliness  and  have  personal  friendships.  It  may 
be  a  home  of  moderate  means,  of  the  plodding 
farmer  or  mechanic,  or  even  a  poor  man's  hum- 
ble cottage,  but  it  will  be  just  as  happy  and  no 
less  influential. 

It  is  all  important,  however,  to  recognize  that 
though  the  home  historically,  as  an  institution, 
comes  first  and  the  church  then  second  in  order 
of  time,  actually  now  the  Christian  home  is  al- 
ways the  creation  of  the  earnest  and  strong 
church,  and  the  home's  religious  life  must  be 
perennially  fed  by  the  church. 

The  habit  of  regular  church-going  is  neces- 
sary to  the  continuance  of  the  Christian  home. 
Family  worship  ceases  where  church  attendance 
becomes  fitful,  and  private  Bible  reading  and 
prayer  soon  follow.  The  new  tides  of  thought  so 
necessary  to  real  rest  from  business  cares  and  re- 
freshing recuperation  must  proceed  also  from  the 
church  as  well  as  from  the  country  landscape. 
It  is  the  vision  of  God  which  makes  the  world 
most  wonderful  to  see.  One  or  two  evenings  a 
week  at  the  church  will  make  the  other  nights  at 
home  really  satisfying.  And  the  Sabbath  serv- 
ices intermitting  the  fellowship  of  home  for  a 
few  hours  return  to  the  home  in  deeper  com- 
munion. 

The  love  of  husband  and  wife  that  puts  God 
first  produces  a  better  second  love  than  any  first 
love  that  leaves  God  out.  As  one  husband  said 
to  his  sweet  wife,  who  as  a  real  saint  of  God  had 


1^6  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

frankly  told  him  she  must  always  have  love  for 
God  deepest,  "  I  would  rather,  dear,  be  second  in 
such  love  as  yours  than  first  in  any  worldly 
woman's  love  I  ever  knew."  Religious  devotion 
never  lessens  home  joys  but  wonderfully  deepens 
them,  and  there  is  nothing  else  that  perpetuates 
home  joys.  ^ 

Parental  obligations  can  be  met  in  the  country 
Christian  home.  The  father  has  time  to  instruct 
his  children  in  religious  and  moral  truth  and 
leisurely  to  read  the  Bible  with  them.  He  may 
develop  comradeship  with  them  which  is  the 
strongest  factor  in  training  them.  There  may 
grow  real  sympathy  with  youthful  aspirations, 
youthful  struggles,  and  genuine  experiences  in 
this  glad  comradeship  in  which  the  father  keeps 
young  and  the  boys  become  wise.  For  it  takes 
time  to  get  truly  acquainted  even  with  one's  own 
child. 

There  are,  however,  many  country  homes  still 
with  few  comforts  for  wife  and  children.  The 
kitchen  fireplace  is  the  only  warm  spot  in  win- 
ter and  the  parlor  is  cold  as  an  ice-house.  Bed- 
rooms have  water  frozen  in  them,  and  the  boys 
who  sleep  under  the  roof  find  little  heaps  of  snow 
on  their  bed-clothes.  The  general  condition  is 
cheerless,  unadorned,  and  forbidding.  No  won- 
der the  best  rooms  are  closed  also  in  summer  to 
keep  out  the  flies.  In  the  great  prosperity  of 
farm  work  to-day  some  of  the  larger  returns 
ought  to  be  spent  for  love.    There  is  no  longer 


CHRIS TIA N  PRINCIPLES MUS T BE  SPREA P>.  i^y 

any  excuse  for  the  hardships  imposed  upon  the 
family.  The  first  expenditures  should  be  for  a 
complete  reconstruction  of  the  home  and  its  sur- 
roundings, in  which  so  much  of  life  is  lived. 
Home  on  the  farm  is  not  merely  a  place  to  have 
supper  and  to  sleep  after  midnight  for  a  few 
hours.  It  is  workshop,  clubhouse,  and  all  the 
world  for  most  of  the  year.  Love  and  happiness 
do  cost  something  but  not  so  much  as  heartaches, 
crimes,  and  excesses  later  in  life  because  love 
was  not  in  the  home  nor  happiness  there  and  the 
children  fled  elsewhere  to  find  it. 

The  privations  are  sorest  and  the  burdens 
heaviest  in  this  kind  of  farm-house  on  the  wife 
and  mother,  she  whom  the  now  thoughtlessly  hard 
man  promised  to  love  and  make  happy.  Former 
President  Roosevelt  says,  "  I  want  to  say  a 
special  word  for  one  who  is  often  the  very  hard- 
est worked  laborer  on  the  farm — the  farmer's 
wife.  I  emphatically  believe  that  for  the  great 
majority  of  women,  the  really .  indispensable  in- 
dustry in  which  they  should  engage  is  the  indus- 
try of  the  home.  But  this  does  not  mean  that  she 
should  be  an  over-worked  drudge.  There  is 
plenty  that  is  hard  and  disagreeable  in  the  neces- 
sary work  of  actual  life  and  under  the  best  cir- 
cumstances, and  no  matter  how  tender  and  con- 
siderate the  husband,  the  wife  will  have  at  least 
her  full  share  of  work  and  worry  and  anxiety; 
but  if  the  man  is  worth  his  salt  he  will  try  to 


1^8  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

take  as  much  as  possible  of  the  burden  off  the 
shoulders  of  his  helpmate."  * 

From  one  county  of  farming  people,  the  Ladies' 
Home  Journal  (February,  1909)  reports  the  ex- 
periences of  farmers'  wives  gathered  by  an  earnest 
little  society  of  women  anxious  to  improve  their 
condition.  This  is  only  one  county,  and  better 
counties  and  farm  regions  there  are,  but  there  are 
yet  too  many  like  these  women.  One  thousand 
queries  were  sent  out  to  every  woman  above 
twenty  years  of  age  asking — Were  you  brought 
up  on  the  farm?  If  you  are  not  married,  would 
you  prefer  a  f arpier  for  a  husband  ?  What  is  the 
hardest  part  of  woman's  work  on  the  farm? 
What  do  you  think  would  greatly  help  a 
woman's  work  on  the  farm?  Wliat  do  you  think 
of  a  "  rest  room  "  for  farm  women  in  town  ? 

Out  of  1 100  letters,  956  answers  were  received. 
They  were  direct  and  straight  to  the  point.  684 
of  the  women  had  been  brought  up  on  the  farm, 
and  three-fourths  of  the  girls  said  they  did  not 
want  a  farmer  for  a  husband  because  they  had 

*  Every  farmhouse  should  contain  Will  Carleton's  "  Farm 
Ballads" — the  poems  "Betsy  and  I  are  Out,"  ''Over  the 
Hills  to  the  Poor  House,"  and  others  are  full  of  quaint 
pathos,  homely  truths,  and  genuine  feeling;  and  also  "  Aunt 
Jane  of  Kentucky  "  by  Eliza  Calvert  Hall,  a  book  so  stirring, 
keen  and  sympathetically  true  to  human  nature  in  the  country 
that  every  man  and  woman  there  ought  to  read  it.  Former 
President  Roosevelt  declares  the  chapter  in  it  on  "  Sallie 
Ann's  Experience  in  the  Meeting  "  deserves  to  be  circulated 
every^vhere  as  a  tract  on  loving  home  life. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD,  i  r  q 

seen  how  their  mothers  slaved  from  dawn,  and 
before  dawn  to  night.  Their  fathers  thought  o£ 
crops  and  cattle  to  the  sacrifice  of  their  wives. 
One  said,  "  Not  a  horse  on  our  farm  works  so 
long  or  so  hard  as  father  lets  mother  work."  An- 
other said,  "  Not  a  convenience  has  mother  in  her 
kitchen ;  but  father  has  every  new  contrivance  in 
his  barn  and  he  has  plenty  of  means;  land  all 
paid  for ;  money  in  bank,  yet  not  a  hired  girl." 

This  the  daughters  of  this  farm  county  said. 
The  wives  say  the  same  thing.  In  nearly  every 
letter  the  cry  is  raised  that  the  men  give  no  con- 
sideration. One  woman  writes  of  having  six 
small  children,  a  farm  of  360  acres  all  paid  for, 
sixty  cows  and  three  hired  men,  and  money  in 
bank,  but  no  hired  girl  though  she  asked  for  one 
over  and  over.  She  has  no  washing  machine,  no 
sewing  machine,  no  facilities  for  baking  or  doing 
things,  a  wretched  old  cook  stove,  and  not  enough 
pans  or  dishes.  She  saved  *'  ^%%  money "  for 
five  years  to  buy  a  rug  for  the  sitting-room,  and 
her  husband  took  it  for  a  new  gasoline  engine 
for  the  barn.  She  saved  again  to  get  a  dummy 
waiter  to  save  the  many  trips  into  the  cellar  but 
her  husband  said  it  was  not  necessary  and  a  sulky 
plow  was! 

Yet  not  a  single  woman  complained  of  any 
kind  of  work  as  too  hard ;  it  was  the  never-end- 
ing, ceaseless  drudgery  of  it  all — with  no  con- 
sideration, no  appreciation.  They  would  not 
mind  the  work  if  they  were  only  given  some  nee- 


l6o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

essary  conveniences  and  a  little  appreciation. 
One  farmer's  wife  cleverly  put  it :  "A  farmer's 
wife  should  have  the  faith  of  a  Methodist,  the 
cleanliness  of  a  Baptist,  the  penance-spirit  of  a 
Catholic,  and  the  belief  in  perseverance  of  a  Pres- 
byterian, to  be  a  success  on  the  farm."  A  few 
expressed  the  wish  that  they  might  occasionally 
hear  a  piece  of  music,  or  read  a  book,  or  see  a 
picture,  however  cheap,  but  most  of  them  only 
asked  for  the  absolutely  necessary  utensils  to 
work  with,  "  arrangements  at  least  as  convenient 
as  the  arrangements  of  the  horse  and  cow  barns, 
the  corn  crib  or  the  hay  loft." 

Here  and  there  was  a  happy  wife  with  a  hu- 
mane and  loving  husband,  but  the  vast  majority 
of  cases  were  denied  ordinary,  human  appreci- 
ation for  all  their  slavish  toil.  "  Give  me  that," 
said  one  woman,  "and  I'll  work  my  nails  off!" 
How  unspeakably  pathetic  is  all  this  true  story 
of  many  lives  in  one  single  county  of  Christian 
America  in  this  year  of  civilization.  We  know 
there  are  better  farm  homes  but  can  it  be  that 
the  majority  in  our  country  are  anywhere  near 
such  a  condition? 

iMany  letters  from  homes  were  received. 
Some  of  them  tell  of  farmers'  homes  fitted  up 
with  all  the  latest  conveniences  and  even  luxur- 
ies— telephones,  piano-players,  the  latest  books, 
the  current  magazines,  and  so  on.  These  letters 
came  from  many  sections  and  let  us  hope  they 
represent  the  real  majority  of  the  whole.     But 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.   1 6 1 

other  letters  came  in  comment  upon  the  strange 
exhibit  of  that  one  rural  county  and  confirmed 
the  sad  stories  with  similar  ones  of  their  own. 

Sadly  enough  there  are  such  homes  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  United  States.  We  cannot,  of 
course,  estimate  what  proportion  of  the  whole 
they  are,  but  a  wider  inquiry  instituted  by  the 
magazine  *  "  Good  Housekeeping "  in  co-oper- 
ation with  noted  farm  journals.  The  American 
Agriculturist,  Farm  and  Home,  The  Orange  Judd 
Farmer,  and  the  New  England  Homestead 
brought  a  thousand  letters  in  response  to  a  series 
of  questions.  These  disclose  conditions  of  over- 
burdened drudgery  and  cruel  hardships,  which, 
however,  most  of  the  wives  attribute  to  thought- 
lessness of  their  husbands  or  old  notions  of 
woman's  inferior  place,  but  this  seems  all  too 
charitable  a  view  to  take  of  men  who  live  to-day 
on  New  York  state  farms,  in  Massachusetts, 
Iowa,  and  California.  Some  farmers'  wives  re- 
sent the  charge  that  their  husbands  are  stingy, 
thoughtless,  or  cruelly  exacting,  and  in  a  few 
cases  describe  excellent  conditions  of  farm  home 
life.  But  others  of  those  who  protest  show  their 
own  lack  of  any  aspirations  for  better  things  or  of 
modern  home  conveniences. 

Here  are  a  few  sentences  from  these  letters: 
"  My  husband  thinks  the  wife  must  always  be  at 
her  post.  He  can  go  where  and  when  he  pleases 
without  telling  her,  but  she  must  be  *  all  atten- 

*  Good  Housekeeping,  July  1909,  pages  41  to  43. 


1 62  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

tiqn '  when  he  returns  and  ask  no  question.  I  do 
not  receive  any  cash  as  a  rule."  *'  I  have  had  only 
two  vacations  in  twenty-two  years."  "  I  do  not 
perform  any  farm  work  except  making  the  butter, 
feeding  the  calves,  raising  chickens  and  ducks  and 
making  garden.  My  husband  does  not  believe  in 
good  social  times  for  his  wife.  I  have  only  one 
outing  a  year,  an  afternoon  picnic."  "  I  live  in 
a  rich  farming  section  in  Iowa,  but  the  women 
here  have  no  labor-saving  machinery.  It  is  bit- 
terly hard  for  a  cultured  woman  to  slave  away 
and  find  no  time  to  read  or  study."  "  California 
farmers  as  a  rule  do  not  know  they  have  wives. 
A  wife  is  merely  a  machine.  I  have  not  been  on 
a  vacation  for  ten  years."  "  I  would  like  to  go 
to  town  once  in  a  while  and  spend  money  to  suit 
myself.  But  my  husband  buys  the  children's  and 
my  clothes  and  we  wear  what  he  gets.  He  is  not 
the  only  man  of  this  kind  in  our  neighborhood. 
I  have  been  to  town  three  times  in  ten  years  and 
have  had  four  new  best  dresses,  two  hats  and  one 
coat.  You  see,  I  am  the  stay-at-home  kind  and 
the  go-without  kind  too."  This  last  is  a  New 
York  woman,  very  slight  build,  weighs  only  ninety 
pounds,  thirty  years  old,  but  does  an  astonishing 
amount  of  farm  work,  besides  household  cares 
and  the  care  of  two  children.  It  is  true,  doubt- 
less, that  there  are  unkind  husbands  in  cities  but 
these  farm  revelations  show  far  worse  than  the 
average. 
What  Horace   Bushnell   called  the   "Age   of 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 63 

Homespun/'  when  the  family  clothing  was  all 
made  in  the  farm  home  and  the  village  home,  has 
forever  passed  away.  In  18 10  Albert  Gallatin, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  reported  to  Congress 
investigations  made  in  every  state,  and  he  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  about  "  two-thirds  of  the 
clothing,  including  hosiery  and  house  and  table 
linen,  worn  and  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States,  who  do  not  reside  in  cities  is  the 
product  of  family  manufacture."  In  Pennsyl- 
vania there  were  997,346  yards  of  woolen  cloth 
and  611,481  yards  of  cotton  cloth  made  in  fami- 
lies and  only  65,326  yards  of  cotton  cloth,  and 
30,666  yards  of  woolen  cloth  in  factories.  The 
proportion  was  about  the  same  in  all  the  states.* 
And  this  was  in  the  period  of  transition.  Earlier 
in  colonial  times  it  was  the  rare  exception  to  wear 
anything  in  country  towns  but  homespun.  But 
with  all  that  spinning  and  weaving,  done  chiefly 
by  the  "  spinsters "  and  wives,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  were  burdened  as  farmers'  wives  of 
the  rush  and  greed  for  money  in  our  day  are 
burdened.  In  any  case  it  seems  inexcusable  not 
to  furnish  the  wife  with  every  possible  labor- 
saving  machine  and  device  on  farms  where  the 
farmer  uses  all  the  machinery  he  can  to  lighten 
his  toil. 

Professor  Charles  W.  Burkett,  in  Good  House- 
keeping (Feb.  1909),  sums  up  some  practical  im- 
provements which  may  be  immediately  made  in 
*  "  The  Country  Town,"  Anderson,  pp.  12-14. 


l64  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

the  farm  home.  He  writes  from  large  personal 
knowledge,  and  with  tender  sympathy  for  the 
hard-worked  wife  and  daughters,  but  also  with 
full  appreciation  of  the  many  difficulties  of  the 
situation.     He  calls  his  suggestions: — 

EIGHT  STEPS  IN  ADVANCE. 

In  the  first  place,  let  music  be  made  much  of  in  the  country 
home. 

Second,  make  over  the  house  so  that  the  bathroom  may  be 
provided. 

Third,  indulge  in  an  occasional  trip  or  visit  to  near-by  and 
distant  points. 

Fourth,  utilize  more  freely  all  intellectual  advantages,  like 
lectures,  books,  papers  and  magazines. 

Fifth,  devote  less  time  to  mere  manual  work,  substituting 
new  conveniences  and  better  methods  for  the  old  ways  of  per- 
forming household  duties. 

Sixth,  secure  a  better-arranged  kitchen  and  make  water  and 
drainage  available  to  it. 

Seventh,  introduce  modern  comforts  throughout  the  house, 
like  better  hghts,  up-to-date  methods  of  heating,  comfortable 
furniture,  and  home  furnishings. 

Eighth,  give  attention  to  the  home  labor  problem,  so  the 
drudging  work  which  so  frequently  falls  to  the  woman's  lot 
may  be  taken  from  her  shoulders.  This  means  that  churning, 
washing,  ironing,  and  other  common  tasks  will  be  done  by 
modern  tools  and  appliances. 

All  these  advances  can  be  introduced  easily, 
quickly,  and  inexpensively  as  compared  with  the 
costly  machines  the  farmer  now  is  accustomed  to 
buy.  In  many  modern  farm-houses.  Professor 
Burkett  says,  they  have  been  introduced  already. 
And  whatever  they  cost,  even  of  sacrifice,  is  less 
than  the  daily  sacrifice  of  mothers  and  daughters. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 65 

He  further  suggests  to  the  women  that  they 
can  do  much  to  secure  these  things  by  agitating 
for  them  persistently.  In  some  cases  several 
years  will  be  required  to  attain  to  these  improve- 
ments. The  wife,  too,  sometimes  closes  her  best 
bedrooms,  her  parlor,  and  reserves  the  best 
dishes  and  best  tableware  for  the  extra  company. 
But  are  not  husband  and  children  the  best  com- 
pany ?  Abandon  these  "  spare  "  bedrooms,  open 
up  the  parlor  windows,  and  let  the  family  have 
the  use  of  all  the  house. 

All  this  means,  he  says,  that  the  woman  must 
have  a  clear  notion  of  her  work.  She  needs  to 
know  how  to  arrange  the  kitchen,  how  to  set 
the  table,  what  to  provide  for  in  the  living-room, 
how  to  make  the  home  cozy  and  comfortable. 
She  needs  to  know  how  to  make  herself  at- 
tractive, to  have  good  taste  in  music  and  pic- 
tures, and  as  much  as  she  can  of  good  cooking 
and  housework.  I  never  see  a  big,  fine-looking 
barn  with  a  small,  ill-kept  house  and  yard  that 
I  do  not  think  the  man  who  owns  the  place  is 
more  of  a  beast  than  a  man;  he  certainly  thinks 
more  of  his  live  stock  than  of  his  wife  and 
children. 

The  farmer  men  might  well  form  an  associa- 
tion to  look  into  this  matter  for  it  is  their  bus- 
iness more  than  the  woman's  on  the  farm. 
Much  of  it  has  doubtless  come  from  the  hard, 
struggling  days  when  the  men  also  toiled  as 
hard.     But  now  in  better  days  let  there  be  ex- 


1 66  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

penditures  on  love,  on  home,  on  the  wife  and 
daughters.  No  investment  will  pay  so  wonder- 
fully. 

The  home  should  provide  sports  for  outdoor 
life  in  winter  and  summer.  Country  sports  in 
winter  are  a  delightful  memory  of  many  people 
in  cities,  and  a  little  spent  on  sleds  and  skates 
will  add  immensely  to  this  joyous  and  healthy 
exercise.  Some  farm-houses  have  richly  added 
summer  games  of  the  many  well-known  kinds. 
These  are  as  necessary  for  best  home  life  and 
character  as  schools  and  churches.  We  do  not 
want  any  more  dull  boys  with  all  work  and  no 
play  on  the  farm. 

The  new  era  will  not  disturb  any  good  thing 
in  the  old  life  in  the  country.  It  will  add  the 
larger  sympathies  of  the  world-wide  horizon, 
the  daily  newspaper,  and  the  magazine,  the  more 
frequent  visits  to  the  city,  the  better  country 
church  and  school.  The  decline  of  real  homes 
in  cities  is  to  be  compensated  for  by  a  finer 
type,  the  Christian  country  home,  and  these 
homes  will  expand  influences  to  enthrone  Christ 
in  all  country  life. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EDUCATIONAL  FORCES  CHRISTIANIZING. 

The  public  school  is  probably  the  most  power- 
ful of  all  American  histitutions  for  our  national 
well-being.  It  has  grown  from  humble  begin- 
nings of  inefficiency  and  brief  terms  a  year  to  the 
real  free  college  of  our  cities  and  the  great  free 
Universities  of  our  states.  The  poorest  child  in 
America  has  an  open  way  to  the  broadest  culture 
the  world  has  ever  known. 

The  unifying  influence  of  the  public  school 
is  solving  the  most  serious  problems  like  those  of 
immigration,  social  castes  on  account  of  wealth, 
and  religious  bigotry. 

The  country  public  school  has  shared  in  the 
steady  and  rapid  advance  of  all  educational  in- 
stitutions but  not  fully.  It  lags  far  behind  in 
many  sections  and  here  the  Christian  people  of 
the  country  must  take  hold  vigorously. 

The  relation  of  education  to  Christianizing  is 
too  well  recognized  and  intimate  to  require  more 
than  restating  here.  The  great  commandment  of 
167 


1 


1 68  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

the  law  is  to  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our 
mind*  as  one  duty.  And  Christ's  influence  on 
the  world's  intellectual  life  and  its  educational 
growth  has  been  the  real  spring  of  modern  prog- 
ress in  schools.  The  finest  paintings  and  sculp- 
ture have  been  inspired  by  his  teachings  or  scenes 
in  his  life,  the  noblest  classic  music  has  the  same 
themes,  the  grandest  poems  have  their  subjects 
and  content  in  the  Bible,  Christ's  church  has 
founded  more  colleges,  universities,  libraries,  and 
educational  research  than  all  other  agencies  com- 
bined, and  his  people  began  the  free  schools  of 
the  world. 

How  then  can  a  large  educational  movement 
be  started  in  rural  districts? 

I.  The  schools  laws  of  the  state  should  be  made 
the  best  possible.  The  minimum  term,  now  only 
five  months  in  some  cases,  should  be  raised  to 
nine  months.  The  short  term  works  many  seri- 
ous disadvantages.  It  makes  impossible  the  se- 
curing of  thoroughly  good  teachers.  Men  and 
women  of  education  and  ability  cannot  live  in 
sections  where  they  receive  employment  for  only 
five  or  six  months  in  the  year.  So  that  the  school 
is  restricted  to  the  people  who  reside  in  the  place 
and  have  other  business  for  part  of  the  year  or  to 
unambitious,  shiftless,  poorly  equipped  teachers. 
But  the  community  needs  new  blood,  some  out- 

*  Tn  Deut.  6 : 5  from  which  Christ  quotes  it  is  "  might  "  but 
he  makes  it  "  mind  "  as  also  the  lawyer  in  Luke  lo :  27  does. 
How  significant ! 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 69 

side  teachers  who  will  bring  to  it  new  stand- 
points, new  ideas,  and  the  infusion  of  a  new 
enthusiasm. 

The  short  term  is  hardest  on  the  more  eager 
and  brightest  scholars  of  the  place.  These  al- 
ways deserve  the  first  consideration  for  the  sake 
of  the  community  itself.  Five  months  may  be 
more  than  enough  for  some  farmer  boys  who  lack 
aspirations  or  push,  as  it  is  for  some  city  boys, 
but  if  any  community  is  raised  it  will  be  by  those 
at  the  top,  by  developing  its  best  and  wiUing 
people.  For  the  leaders  of  the  future,  the  coming 
men  of  business  and  the  professions,  and  for  the 
scientific  farmer  the  future  needs  let  every  man 
work  for  a  nine-months  school  term.  Some  farm- 
ing districts  have  ten  months. 

Compulsory  education  has  won  its  way,  and 
Is  no  longer  an  experiment.  It  should  be  adopted 
at  once  by  all  the  states  backed  by  the  farm 
constituency,  and  strictly  enforced.  The  farm 
is  a  child  peril  as  well  as  the  factory.  Every 
teacher  in  the  country  school,  like  the  writer  in 
early  experience  and  observation  since,  knows 
how  many  splendid  boys  cannot  begin  until 
near  Christmas  on  account  of  farm  work,  and 
how  early  in  March  they  are  gone.  I  was  haunted 
for  years  by  the  despairing  face  of  a  boy  who 
had  made  splendid  progress  during  the  term  but 
was  cut  short  early  by  the  opening  of  spring. 
It  was  when  he  told  me  he  would  be  obliged  to 
stop  next  week  and  it  was  no  use  to  take  the  ad- 


170 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


vanced  work  we  were  discussing.  The  greed  or 
the  supposed  necessity  of  the  father  cripples  the 
child's  future  for  gain,  as  New  York  beggars 
used  to  cripple  their  child's  body  to  arouse  sym- 
pathy and  get  more  money.  Is  it  any  less  harm- 
ful because  the  farmer  father  is  not  so  cruel  but 
only  densely  stupid  in  crippling  his  child's  mind? 
It  is  very  shortsighted  to  be  sure  for  he  will  lose 
much  more  money  in  the  end  than  he  now  saves 
by  that  boy's  toil.  But  it  seems  useless  ever  to 
argue  the  matter  with  such  men.  The  state 
must  sternly  lay  its  hands  upon  them  and  demand 
the  rights  of  the  child  to  the  thorough  prepara- 
tion for  life  which  the  state  has  provided  freely. 
In  the  country  compulsory  education  laws  are 
more  difficult  to  enforce  because  of  close  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  family  relations,  and  lack  of 
strong  public  sentiment.  Here  the  Christian 
people  must  step  in  and,  in  love  for  the  child  as 
Christ  loved  him,  compel  enforcement  of  this 
law  upon  every  one.  The  law  is  easy  enough 
and  reasonable  in  regarding  exceptional  cases! 

2.  Higher  standards  of  qualifications  for 
teachers  should  be  steadily  raised.  Normal 
schools  do  not  yet  everywhere  furnish  enough 
graduates  to  supply  all  schools,  and  of  course 
some  of  the  graduates  are  not  ideal  teachers. 
Better  ones  are  sometimes  home  educated  as  in 
every  profession.  The  examinations  of  appli- 
cants, therefore,  should  be  broad,  sensible,  and 
thorough.     A  single  good  teacher  of  fine  spirit 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 7 1 

and  enthusiasm  for  real  learning  has  made  many 
a  great  man. 

The  influence  of  the  teacher  during  the  child's 
early  years  is  immeasurable.*  The  mother  who 
sadly  takes  her  little  one  to  the  school  the  first 
day  feeling  that  she  has  lost  her  baby,  now  dis- 
covers to  her  dismay  that  the  teacher  exerts  a 
unique  influence,  beyond  her  own.  The  child 
corrects  the  mother  and  quotes  the  teacher  as 
settling  all  questions.  He  has  become  the  stand- 
ard of  learning  and  good  taste,  he  is  looked  up 
to  with  a  strange  reverence,  and  is  often  warmly 
loved.  What  if  the  teacher  can  also  be  si^ch  a 
man  as  to  become  the  standard  of  goodness  to 
the  child  ?  His  spirit  so  courteous,  so  brave  for 
all  right  things,  so  pure  in  thought  and  act,  so 
forceful  in  character  that  the  child  is  forever 
turned  in  admiration  to  the  good  and  the  true? 
Is  it  not  worth  giving  large  attention  when  so 
much  depends  upon  the  moral  character,  the  real 
gentlemanliness,  and  the  enthusiasm  for  learn- 
ing thoroughly  and  accurately  in  the  teacher? 

A  wise  community  will  call  the  teacher  with 
care  second  to  that  which  is  given  the  call  to  a 
pastor,  if  even  second  to  that.  He  is  examined 
by  the  county  official  or  state  examiner  as  to  in- 
tellectual and  pedagogic  ability  and  concerning 
his  reputation  for  moral  character.  But  the  wise 
school  board  goes  into  other  equally  important 

*  DuBois  "  Point  of  Contact  in  Teaching  "  ;  •*  Studies  in 
Education,"  Barnes. 


172 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


matters.  His  personal  manners  and  appearance 
are  of  vital  concern.  The  children's  habits  for 
courtesy  and  cleanliness  will  largely  reflect  those 
of  the  teacher.  His  genuine  love  for  teaching, 
for  books,  for  nature,  and  for  children  and  young 
people  is  vital  to  his  success.  He  cannot  impart 
or  inspire  real  learning  if  he  is  a  hireling  for 
mere  pay.  It  is  the  beautiful  reward  which  one 
good  teacher  cherishes  that  sixteen  pupils  of  his 
school  became  teachers,  and  one  of  them  ex- 
plained that  it  was  because  teaching  as  he  did  it 
seemed  so  delightful  they  all  wanted  to  engage 
in  it. 

The  country  teacher  surely  should  have  an 
enthusiasm  for  nature  study.  No  books  he  can 
teach  will  mean  so  rich  a  real  culture  of  mind 
and  soul  as  the  inspiration  he  can  give  to  scien- 
tific observation  of  trees  and  plants,  of  flowers 
and  birds,  insects,  minerals,  and  other  objects  so 
abundantly  in  reach  around  his  school.  If  he  is 
a  specialist  in  one  nature  study  he  will  become  an 
untold  blessing.  It  is  easy  now  to  procure  the 
needed  text-books  in  any  line  of  these  delightful 
pursuits. 

One  early  teacher  inspired  a  large  school  to 
rapid  calculating  so  that  many  of  them  became 
notable  for  the  way  they  could  add,  multiply, 
or  divide  with  speed  and  accuracy;  another,  a 
teacher  of  rhetoric,  was  successful  in  instructing 
several  excellent  authors  to  attain  distinction. 
The  teacher  as  an  inspiration  is  even  more  im- 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 73 

portant  than  his  work  in  the  strictest  accuracy. 
His  interest  in  the  boys  and  girls  will  be  tireless 
and  after  school  hours  he  will  be  found  with 
them  in  larger  inspirations. 

What  pay  should  such  a  teacher  be  given? 
There  is  even  less  sentiment  for  an  adequate 
salary  for  teachers  than  there  is  in  the  country 
for  the  underpaid  pastor.  Think  of  a  five  months' 
term  at  twenty-five  dollars  a  month  for  securing 
a  man  whose  influence  on  the  character  and  suc- 
cess of  the  children  of  the  town  or  village  is  be- 
yond all  estimating  for  good  or  for  stunting,  re- 
tarding or  demoralizing!  What  would  one  of 
those  good  fathers  take  to  permit  some  one  to 
cripple  his  child  for  all  time,  to  give  him  wrong 
conceptions  of  life,  of  his  opportunity  or  duty? 
And  to  blast  most  of  the  fine  chances  he  had  for 
becoming  a  great  man?  Or,  on  the  other  hand, 
what  will  he  not  give  to  have  that  son  or  daughter 
receive  the  vision  of  life  of  a  broadly  educated, 
noble  Christian  gentleman,  and  enthusiast  for 
learning.  Yet  many  such  Christian  men  will  not 
interfere  when  a  few  men  on  the  local  school 
board  fix  the  teacher's  salary  at  a  figure  that 
can  secure  only  incompetency,  inexperience,  and 
unambition  of  every  kind  in  the  teacher.  There 
is  no  need  to  wish  them  ill  for  it,  they  will  be 
paid  fearfully  in  the  dwarfing  of  the  souls  and 
minds  of  their  children.  One  good  teacher  among 
the  underpaid  told  his  grim  joke  of  a  burglar 
who  broke  into  a  teacher's  home  to  rob.    He  was 


174 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 


caught   but   had  taken  nothing  and   the  Judge 
sentenced  him — to  an  insane  asylum. 

3.  Therefore  elect  the  best  citizens  on  the 
school  board.  It  is  astonishing  that  intelligent 
communities  allow  themselves  to  be  afflicted  with 
the  slow  and  utterly  unfit  men  on  some  of  these 
boards.  The  good  citizen  does  not  go  to  the 
nominating  meeting  or  the  primary.  Politicians 
pay  their  personal  debts  by  giving  the  office  to 
henchmen  who  in  turn  care  nothing  for  it  except 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  other  offices  and  for  the 
petty  graft  in  it.  There  is  no  duty  all  the  year 
so  momentous  in  importance  as  to  attend  these 
elections  and  secure  the  very  best  citizens  for  the 
supervision  of  schools.  The  stinginess  of  a  few 
men  has  once  in  a  while  put  a  man  on  the  board 
expressly  to  stop  all  improvements  and  progress 
for  the  sake  of  lower  taxes.  The  only  remedy 
for  such  wrongs  to  the  chil4  is  a  vigorous  agi- 
tation on  the  wonderful  benefits  of  educatioil. 
What  remarkable  illustration  of  it  in  the  history 
of  New  England !  "  When  John  Cabot  Lodge 
studied  the  distribution  of  ability  in  the  United 
States  he  found  that  five  great  Western  states 
produced  only  twenty-seven  men  in  ninety  years 
mentioned  in  American  and  English  encyclo- 
pedias while  little  Massachusetts  had  2,686  or- 
ators, authors,  philosophers,  and  statesmen.  The 
difference  is  almost  wholly  of  education  for  the 
West  had  probably  just  as  great  natural  ability."* 

*  Rev.  Dr.  N.  D.  Hillis,  in  "  A  Man's  Value  to  Society." 


CHRISTIA N  PRINCIPLES  MUS T  BE  SPREA Z>.  1 7  5 

Think  of  what  would  happen  if  every  town  of 
less  than  eighteen  thousand  would  accomplish  the 
wonders  of  what  education  had  done  for  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  even  now  containing  only  about 
18,000  people.  "It  has  trained  114  lawyers,  112 
ministers,  95  physicians,  100  educators,  7  his- 
torians, 14  authors,  among  them  George  Ban- 
croft, John  Lothrop  Motley,  Professor  Whitney, 
J.  G.  Holland;  38  officers  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, 28  of  the  United  States  government  includ- 
ing Senators  and  one  President."  This  is  Rev. 
Dr.  Hillis's  enumeration. 

Think  of  what  a  marvelous  power  is  a  book  in 
shaping  lives.  Milton  says,  "  A  good  book  is 
the  precious  life-blood  of  a  master  spirit  to  a 
life  beyond  life."  Carlyle:  "All  that  mankind 
has  done,  thought  or  been  is  lying  in  magic 
preservation  in  the  pages  of  books."  Well  does 
Emerson  cry  out — "  Give  me  a  book,  health,  and 
a  June  day  and  I  will  make  the  pomp  of  kings 
ridiculous." 

Who  can  estimate  what  a  library  in  the  country 
public  schools  is  doing  or  might  do  for  souls 
loving  books  like  Emerson?  Well  does  gentle 
Charles  Lamb  bid  us  to  say  "  grace  "  reverently 
before  reading  a  good  book.  It  is  encouraging 
to  know  that  former  President  Roosevelt's  Com- 
mission found  the  farmers  deeply  concerned  for 
better  schools.  They  want  a  new  kind  of  country 
school  that  will  fit  their  young  people  for  country 
life;  teaching  them  outdoors  also,  to  work  with 


176  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

tools,  how  to  prepare  the  soil,  how  to  plant  well, 
how  to  care  for  animals;  to  cook  and  to  sew,  to 
keep  accounts,  and  a  deep  interest  in  nature  to 
see  its  beauty  as  well  as  its  profit. 

State  and  county  superintendents  are  already 
responding  to  these  needs  and  working  toward 
them.  Agricultural  colleges  are  giving  brief 
special  courses  and  demonstrations  of  better  farm 
work.  Teaching  them  sanitation  of  the  farm 
and  the  home  is  felt  to  be  specially  important 
in  view  of  the  sad  lack  of  it  in  many  sections. 
This  is  to  be  practically  developed  in  the  schools. 

A  notable  instance  of  this  new  kind  of  a  coun- 
try school  is  the  Holly  Springs  High  School,  in 
Wake  County,  North  Carolina.  The  school  se- 
cured four  acres  of  land  and  built  an  eight- 
thousand  dollar  house,  the  people  liberally  con- 
tributing in  addition  to  taxes.  They  planted  the 
ground  in  cotton  the  labor  being  done  by  the 
pupils,  and  made  enough  money  to  lengthen  the 
school  term  two  months.  Another  school  tried 
the  school  farm  and  next  year  five  schools  did  it 
with  different  crops,  all  being  quite  successful. 
Now  twelve  schools  are  planning  to  operate  small 
farms  and  children  and  parents  are  interested  up 
to  genuine  enthusiasm.  The  school  terms  are 
lengthened,  school  buildings  put  into  splendid 
order,  and  larger  schemes  of  education  are  find- 
ing ready  acceptance.  The  children  are  educated 
not  for  the  city  but  for  the  country  life. 

4.  With  a  good  board  the  Christian  citizens 
will  begin  a  large  development  of  the  schools. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD. 


177 


There  are  fads  in  public  school  education  in 
the  feverish  passion  for  progress.  A  principal 
of  a  large  city,  among  others,  gave  a  lecture 
recently  presenting  the  "  new  ideas  he  was  push- 
ing," the  most  absurd  collection  of  half  digested 
notions  of  an  extreme  psycho-physical  school. 
Such  follies  are  always  incident  to  real  progress, 
and  the  public  schools  at  their  best  to-day  /are  far 
from  what  their  able  leaders  desire. 

But  many  steps  of  progress  are  unquestionably 
helpful  and  fundamental. 

The  country  school  should  be  graded  as  far  as 
possible  in  scholars,  teachers,  and  courses  of 
study.  A  central  High  School  should  be  pro- 
vided for  the  district  or  township. 

The  kindergarten  ought  to  be  begun  In  every 
town  for  the  smallest  children,  and  the  manual 
training  school  or  course  in  several  schools  be 
in  every  school  district.  There  are  county  school 
boards  who  have  accomplished  it  even  in  sparsely 
settled  farm  districts. 

The  plan  of  wagons  for  hauling  children  from 
a  larger  territory  to  make  possible  larger  schools 
and  graded  schools  in  one  building  has  proven  a 
great  success.  The  expense  is  not  greater  than 
for  separate  small  schools  of  twenty  scholars  or 
less,  and  enthusiasm,  better  teachers,  and  social 
development  are  effected.  These  large  wagons 
have  certain  routes  and  the  children  meet  them 
at  convenient  points  near  their  homes. 


178  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

4.  Better  school  buildings  will  come  naturally. 
Larger  state  appropriations  for  education  should 
be  persistently  agitated  for,  more  efficient  super- 
vision demanded,  and  an  intelligent  public  opin- 
ion trained.  At  the  foundation  must  be  this  pub- 
lic sentiment  educated  to  the  highest  possibilities 
of  the  public  school.  An  occasional  town  meet- 
ing on  school  problems  ought  to  be  called. 

5.  With  educated  public  opinion  there  will  be 
demand  for  systematic  moral  training  in  public 
schools.  The  study  of  practical  ethics  is  imper- 
ative. The  teaching  of  personal  duty  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  the  discussion  of  fine  moral  ques- 
tions, and  the  practical  watch  over  cliaracter 
development  is  more  important  surely  than  in- 
tellectual training.  Teachers  of  the  better  sort 
have  long  desired  it  and  are  doing  it  but  un- 
systematically  and  with  smaller  results  than  we 
must  have.  A  well  planned  study  of  morals  and 
manners  should  be  demanded. 

The  remarkable  results  from  one  single  effort 
at  such  work  is  now  before  the  whole  world.  The 
teaching  of  the  effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics 
on  the  human  system  was  begun  by  law  in  about 
forty  states  in  1876.  Only  one  generation  of 
public  school  work  on  that  subject  has  passed 
and  we  see  the  whole  country  swept  by  a  wave 
of  rage  against  the  saloon  and  its  evils,  that  is 
driving  it  out  of  many  states  forever,  and  out 
of  large  parts  of  all  the  states.  There  is  no 
other  agency  to  which  this  temperance  wave  can 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD,  i  yg 

be  attributed  so  clearly  as  to  the  conviction 
created  by  the  teaching  in  the  schools. 

Let  there  be  similar  moral  teaching  on  devel- 
oping a  sound  and  pure  body  free  from  vice,  and 
in  a  decade  we  shall  have  our  schools  morally 
clean  instead  of  the  fearful  vices  now  so  preva- 
lent in  many  sections.  The  teacher  talks  to  the 
parent,  many  have  done  so  to  the  writer's  knowl- 
edge, about  the  impure  conduct  of  the  boy  and 
girl,  but  the  angry  parent  will  not  believe  it  and 
the  teacher  knows  her  position  will  be  imperilled 
if  she  goes  on  in  that  way.  Nothing  but  a  wisely 
graded  course  on  this  evil,  and  on  property  rights, 
truthfulness,  fidelity,  courage,  gentleness,  sym- 
pathy, and  all  other  virtues  will  meet  the  moral 
needs  of  childhood  in  the  schools. 

6.  Then  will  come  the  wise  demand  that  the 
Bible  be  taught,  not  simply  read,  in  the  state 
schools.  On  this  question  on  which  the  National 
Educational  Association,  composed  of  public 
school  leaders  and  educators  in  general,  has  re- 
peatedly spoken  with  practical  unanimity  for  the 
Bible  as  a  text-book,  it  is  astonishing  that  there 
is  absolute  chaos  in  the  public  mind.  By  unan- 
swerable argument  it  has  been  shown  with  ut- 
most clearness  that  it  is  in  no  sense  introducing 
sectarian  instruction,  it  is  no  union  of  church  and 
state,  but  that  the  Bible  is  essential  to  a  complete 
education.  Think  of  the  finest  literature,  "  the 
literature  both  of  power  and  of  beautiful  form," 
not  studied  at  all  in  our  schools ;  of  the  profound- 


l8o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

est  and  most  practical  philosophy  of  life  and 
moral  teaching  which  is  "  a  voice  and  not  an 
echo  "  neglected ;  and  of  the  book  fundamental 
to  all  modern  progress  driven  out  of  the  schools 
of  a  nation,  declared  by  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  to  be  a  Christian  nation!  Ruskin 
and  Carlyle  and  Daniel  Webster  declared  they 
got  the  matchless  style  of  their  English  from  the 
Bible.  Even  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  free  thinkers 
though  they  are,  urge  it  for  all  schools.  But  in 
our  country  the  enemies  of  the  Bible  are  bold 
and  insistent  and  its  friends  divided,  uninformed, 
and  undecided.  In  the  cities  certain  elements 
are  already  in  control  against  the  Bible  in  the 
schools,  and  the  rural  sections  must  swing  us 
back  to  good  sense  in  the  Bible^s  place  in  educa- 
tion. Let  every  good  citizen  in  country  places 
study  this  question,  agitate,  demand,  put  the 
Bible  into  the  schools. 

7.  The  country  church  may  greatly  aid  the 
public  schools.  It  is  the  excellent  custom  of  some 
pastors  to  preach  a  sermon  on  public  schools  at 
the  beginning  of  the  term.  They  seek  to  arouse 
greater  respect  for  the  teacher,  urge  some  cur- 
rent improvements,  and  in  general  a  regular 
attendance  and  best  work. 

8.  Many  communities  have  a  college  in  addi- 
tion to  public  schools  or  some  fine  preparatory 
academy.  These  are  usually  struggling  for  very 
existence,  the  village  or  town  blind  to  their  ex- 
traordinary opportunity.     A  few  earnest  citizens 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPL  ES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  1 8 1 

can  rally  the  farmers  and  neighbors  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  school  or  college,  and  they  will  have 
their  reward  as  is  usual  in  such  agitation  in  the 
fine  effect  upon  their  own  children.  Call  a  pub- 
lic meeting  to  arouse  interest  in  the  college. 
Urge  the  young  people  to  go.  It  will  mean  a 
new  era  for  the  entire  region.  Pastors  and  Sun- 
day-school superintendents  may  do  a  great  serv- 
ice by  standing  for  a  college  education  for  all 
the  young  people.  Sometimes  this  has  been  the 
greatest  work  of  an  earnest  pastor  that  he  was 
the  means  of  persuading  some  future  great  man 
to  enter  college.  Professor  Butterfield  of  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  a  member  of 
the  National  Commission  on  Country  Life,  says, 
"  Under  co-operation  comes  the  idea  of  getting 
coimtry  people  to  work  together  in  developing 
organizations  for  educational  purposes,  social 
purposes,  and  business  purposes.  The  Grange  is 
one  of  the  best  examples  of  this  co-operation. 
Education  needs  attention  in  the  improvement  of 
the  country  schools,  the  placing  of  agriculture  in 
the  curriculum,  better  high  school  facilities,  the 
establishment  of  more  complete  agricultural  col- 
leges, and  more  encouragement  of  extension 
work — lectures  and  demonstrations."  He  says 
also,  "  The  country  church  must  play  an  in- 
creasingly larger  part  in  the  development  of 
country  life." 

The  farmer  is  beginning  to  respond  to  these 
educational  efforts.    We  give  one  illustration  of 


1 82  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

many  in  the  states.  The  most  surprising  results 
have  come  in  Wisconsin  where  the  great  state 
University  is  projecting  many  educational  ad- 
vantages for  farmers.  Mr.  Lincoln  Steffens, 
(American  ^lagazine,  February,  1909)  tells  of 
one  family  from  the  country  of  which  the  son 
was  on  a  ''  Varsity  team/'  the  daughter  in  the 
college  of  Letters  and  Science,  and  the  father 
and  mother  came  to  Madison  in  the  winter,  the 
one  to  attend  the  "  Housekeepers'  Conference  " 
in  the  College  of  Agriculture,  and  the  other  the 
Farmers'  Course  of  study,  a  ten-day  practical 
but  thoroughly  scientific  study  of  improving,  bet- 
ter apparatus,  experimentation  in  grain,  and  the 
chemistry  of  dairying.  Three  hundred  and 
ninety-three  farmers  in  1907  took  a  longer  special 
course  on  farming  and  have  stirred  every  neigh- 
borhood in  the  state  with  their  practical  results. 
A  new  enthusiasm  for  farm  work  has  come  and 
boys  stay  on  it  instead  of  going  to  the  cities.  The 
University's  special  investigation  into  oat  smut 
has  saved  five  millions  a  year,  and  whole  sections 
of  the  state  have  planted  the  better  seeds  for 
other  grains  and  increased  output  and  profits 
fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent. ;  the  average 
increase  per  acre  of  corn  rose  from  2^]  to 
41  bushels,  15,000,000  bushels  a  year  worth 
$6,000,000. 

Now  Farmers'  Institutes  cover  that  state  with 
lectures  and  demonstrations  by  University  ex- 
perts from  two  to  five  days  and  these  lead  to  the 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  183 

University's  short  course  at  Madison  begun  in 
1903.  The  time  for  it  is  two  weeks  in  dead  of 
winter  when  no  work  is  doing  on  the  farm. 
The  first  year  175  farmers  came;  second  year, 
227;  then  the  succeeding  years,  401,  601,  701,  and 
now  2,000  are  expected.  One  farmer  said, 
"Great  stuff  we're  getting  here,  ain't  it?"  and 
then  he  told  of  some  values  of  it.  Two  hundred 
Farmers'  Institutes  are  now  supported  by  the 
state.  All  this  is  new  life  of  intellectual  stim- 
ulus on  the  farm,  as  one  story  illustrates.  In 
the  Httle  town  of  Cottage  Grove  lives  a  boy 
named  Mellish.  He  lives  with  his  mother,  sister 
and  grandfather  on  a  forty-acre  farm  which  is 
their  support.  The  boy  is  so  deeply  interested 
in  astronomy  that  he  constructed  a  telescope,  and 
after  his  day's  work  searches  the  sky  with  it. 
In  1907  he  discovered  two  of  the  seven  or  eight 
comets  that  were  found  by  the  astronomers  of 
the  world.  He  continues  to  work  on  the  farm 
and  is  taking  the  University  correspondence 
course  in  Mathematics.  The  University  going 
out  found  that  boy  and  is  looking  for  others  like 
him. 

But  Wisconsin  is  only  a  little  in  the  lead  of 
what  all  the  states  are  doing  for  the  farmer,  for 
his  home,  and  for  his  boys  and  girls.*  During 
1906-7  Farmers'  Institutes  were  held  in  all  the 

*  See  Report  of  Hon.  John  Hamilton,  Director  of  Farmers' 
Institutes  in  the  United  States  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  for  1907. 


184  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

states  excepting  Nevada  and  Texas,  and  in  all 
the  territories  excepting  Alaska  and  Porto  Rico. 
Forty-four  states  report  attendance  1,596,877, 
an  increase  over  previous  year  of  297,705.  The 
number  of  Institutes  in  1907  was  3,927,  a  gain  of 
406,  an  average  attendance  for  each  session  of 
the  one-day,  two-day,  .  and  three-day  Institutes 
of  138.8,  an  increase  of  24.8  over  the  average 
session  of  1906.  The  amount  spent  by  the  states 
on  these  Institutes  was  $284,450.  Fourteen 
states  held  other  Institutes  to  the  number  of  125 ; 
five  states  ran  railroad  specials,  two  states  held 
field  demonstrations  with  an  attendance  of  1000. 
Eleven  states  held  women's  Institutes  in  which 
domestic  economy  and  farm  homes  were  dis- 
cussed in  addition  to  technical  crops ;  'eight  states 
report  363  sessions  of  boys'  and  girls'  Institutes ; 
and  one  a  summer  school  for  farmers,  held  in 
1906,  for  seven  days,  with  an  attendance  of  405, 
at  which  ten  to  twelve  hours'  instruction  was 
given  each  day.  In  Kansas  2,794  boys  engaged 
in  corn  contests  in  40  counties,  250  girls  were 
listed  in  contests  in  growing  of  flowers,  and  150 
in  contests  in  home  gardening.  In  Indiana  eight 
summer  Institutes  were  held  specially  for  farm- 
ers' wives  and  children,  and  in  Illinois  60  out 
of  102  counties  were  represented  at  the  two 
weeks'  short  course  in  winter  at  the  University 
at  Champaign  by  winners  in  corn-judging  and 
bread-judging  contests.  The  teaching  force 
actually  employed  by  the  states  in  these  Institutes 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD,   i  gc 

was  1,084.  Of  these,  386  were  from  the  agri- 
cultural colleges,  605  hold  university  or  college 
degrees,  and  many  of  the  others  were  practical 
farmers  highly  successful  in  specialities  and  some 
of  them  exceedingly  attractive  teachers. 

All  these  we  have  given  in  detail  to  prove  be- 
yond a  doubt  that  these  Institutes  are  of  high 
character  intellectually  and  are  growing  in  pop- 
ular power  wonderfully.  But  it  is  estimated  that 
probably  only  one  in  ten  of  our  enormous  farm- 
ing population  has  yet  been  reached  by  their 
helpfulness.  We  are  therefore  recording  the 
beginnings  of  new  history  which  will  become  a 
peaceful  revolution  in  our  farming  conditions. 

For  Pennsylvania,*  one  of  the  states  which 
issues  an  annual  report  of  this  educational  move- 
ment for  farmers,  there  are  seventy  lecturers  em- 
ployed for  nearly  three  months  in  winter.  They 
held  379  institutes,  generally  two-day  sessions, 
and  talked  on  from  three  to  eleven  subjects  each, 
most  of  the  subjects  being  upon  technical  crop 
problems  and  methods  of  cultivation,  but  many 
also  of  a  general  nature  touching  the  welfare  of 
the  farm  home  and  environment.  Instruction 
trains  stopping  at  many  points  for  a  few  hours 
were  a  unique  feature  of  this  work. 

All  this  instruction  aims  at  thoroughly  scien- 
tific investigation  and  discussion.  It  is  strenu- 
ously practical  and  produces  results  that  can  be 
measured  in  better  and  larger  crops,  and  improved 

*  See  Penna.  State  Bulletin  of  Farmers'  Institutes,  1908. 


1 86  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

material  conditions.  But  great  as  this  move- 
ment has  become  it  is  only  one  phase  of  the 
Progress  of  Agricultural  Education.*  "  Agri- 
culture is  recognized  as  a  teachable  subject  hav- 
ing educational  value  "  not  only  in  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, in  Wisconsin  University,  but  in  C6lumbia, 
Clark,  and  others.  The  National  pducation  As- 
sociation is  considering  it  as  a  subject  for  the 
regular  public  school  course,  and  the  pioneer 
county  to  adopt  it  in  the  public  school  organiza- 
tion is  Cecil  County,  Maryland.  Cecil  County 
opened  its  Agricultural  High  School,  Nov.  5, 
1906,  in  a  small  building  with  nine  acres  of  land. 
Thirty-eight  pupils  were  enrolled  the  first  day 
and  fifty-one  for  the  year.  Others  in  different 
states  are  rapidly  following. 

Gardens  for  planting  vegetables  and  flowers 
by  public  school  children  have  been  in  operation, 
rapidly  spreading  over  the  country.  Seeds  for 
75,500  school  gardens  were  sent  out  by  the 
Department  at  Washington  in  a  single  year. 

In  his  first  message  to  the  Sixtieth  Congress, 
Theodore  Roosevelt  said,  *'  The  farmer  must  not 
lose  his  independence,  his  initiative,  his  rugged 
self-reliance,  yet  he  must  learn  to  work  in  the 
heartiest  co-operation  with  his  fellows,  exactly 
as  the  business  man  has  learned  to  work ;  and  he 
must  prepare  to  use  to  constantly  better  advan- 

^See  Dept.  of  Agriculture's  Reports  in  special  bulletins 
"  Reports  of  Progress  of  Agricultural  Education  "  for  1906, 
and  for  1907. 


CHRIS  TIA  N  PRINCIPLES  MUS  T  BE  SPREAD.  1 8  7 

tage  the  knowledge  that  can  be  obtained  from 
agricultural  colleges,  while  he  must  insist  upon 
a  practical  curriculum  in  the  schools  in  which  his 
children  are  taught.  It  should  be  one  of  our 
prime  objects  to  put  both  the  farmer  and  the 
mechanic  on  a  higher  plane  of  efficiency  and  re- 
ward, so  as  to  increase  their  effectiveness  in  the 
economic  world  and  therefore  the  dignity,  the 
remuneration,  and  the  power  of  their  positions 
in  the  social  world." 

The  Grange,  the  well-known  secret  association 
of  farmers,  is  again  energetically  and  success- 
fully organizing  the  farmers  for  mutual  help  and 
large  educational  movements  for  improving  the 
farm  and  home.  The  popular  impression  that  the 
Grange  is  dead,  or  not  now  "  a  force  of  conse- 
quence "  is  a  mistake.  According  to  President 
Butterfield,  the  Grange  has  accomplished  more 
for  agriculture  than  has  any  other  farm  organ- 
ization. It  has  more  real  influence  than  it  has 
ever  had  before ;  and  it  is  more  nearly  a  national 
farmers'  organization  than  any  other  in  existence 
to-day."  * 

The  Pennsylvania  Secretary,  of  Agriculture 
reports  Its  growth  In  that  State  (Letter  to  author, 
June,  1909).  The  Grange  was  organized  by 
Mr.  O.  H.  Kelley  in  1867.  In  1873  there  were 
20,000  Granges  in  28  States  comprising  750,000 
members.    But  from  1880  to  1890  the  Grange  de- 

*  Compare  President  Butterfield,  "  Chapters  in  Rural 
Progress,"  p.  138. 


l88  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

clined,  but  since  1890  there  has  been  wide-spread 
revival  of  interest  in  it.  In  five  leading  states, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maine,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Michigan,  the  total  number  of  Granges  in- 
creased, (1900- 1905)  492  and  in  membership 
81,000.  The  full  participation  of  women  in  the 
Grange,  the  broad  educational  and  social  plans 
of  the  organization,  its  co-operative  business 
plans,  legislative  influencing,  and  general  enthu- 
siasm for  better  rural  conditions  render  it  a  large 
factor  of  promise  for  the  future. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  one 
of  its  reports  to  Congress  gives  a  complete  list 
of  Agricultural  Associations,  local,  state,  and 
national.  The  number  of  such  co-operative  as- 
sociations of  all  kinds  is  fully  twelve  thousand,'"'' 
of  which  the  Grange,  the  Farmers'  Union,  Far- 
mers' Educational  and  Co-operative  Union,  and 
the  American  Society  of  Equity  are  found  in 
several  states.  Many  states  have  three  hundred 
associations,  a  few  nearly  a  thousand  of  them. 
Yet  so  great  is  the  number  of  farmers  and  so 
widely  scattered  are  they  in  America  that  as  yet 
only  a  small  proportion  of  them  are  organized. 
The  Farmers'  Union  and  the  Grange  promise 
most  for  national  spread  of  co-operative  power. 

The  leaders  of  the  Grange  have  been  wise  in 
using  its  great  influence  to  further  legislation 
by  Congress  and  the  states  for  the  benefit  of 
agricultural  interests.     They  urge  "  the  mental, 

*  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  Washington,  1907. 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREA  D.  j  89 

moral,  and  social  development  of  the  farmer  and 
his  family,"  as  the  most  important  of  all.  They 
are  studying  national  affairs  and  national  issues 
in  an  intelligent  and  thorough-going  way  that 
promises  helpful  influence  for  them  in  a  right 
solution.  On  good  roads,  the  conservation  of 
natural  resources  so  auspiciously  promoted  by 
former  President  Roosevelt,  on  Postal  Savings 
Banks  and  Parcels  Post,  and  on  other  vital  ques- 
tions they  are  untiring  in  agitation  and  concen- 
tration of  influence.  They  claim  to  have  been 
largely  influential  in  securing  many  important 
laws  in  the  recent  past,  and  they  do  not  too 
strongly '  urge  the  importance  of  agriculture  in 
these  striking  words ;  "'^  "  The  prosperity  of  agri- 
culture is  the  basis  of  prosperity  in  other  indus- 
tries. Immense  manufacturing  plants  and  great 
transportation  companies  are  dependent  upon 
agriculture  for  business  and  prosperity.  What 
contributes  to  the  promotion  of  agriculture  con- 
tributes to  tht  highest  development  of  a  nation." 
Farmers  have  been  very  indifferent  to  organ- 
ization. Their  natural  independence  and  isola- 
tion have  been  against  submission  to  set  regula- 
tions and  to  social  obligations.  But  the  taste  of 
united  power  and  the  delights  of  fellowship  are 
winning  them.  The  purposes  of  the  Grange  are 
lofty  and  broad  for  Christian  and  moral  princi- 
ples, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  its  membership 

*  See  address  of  N.  J.  Bachelder,  Master  National  Grange, 
1908. 


I^o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

will  soon  increase  from  about  a  million  to  em- 
brace the  entire  ten  millions  of  farm  workers  and 
also  their  wives,  for  the  Grange  is  the  most  hos- 
pitable of  all  organizations  to  woman. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SOCIAL   VILLAGE   CULTURE   FOR   CHRIST. 

The  town,  the  village,  and  the  farming  region 
are  indeed  free  in  social  life,  but  unrestraint  and 
tinconventionality  are  not  necessarily  ideal.  The 
barriers  of  city  castes  are  down,  but  the  guards 
that  mean  true  modesty,  tender  thoughtfulness, 
and  noblest  friendships  may  not  yet  be  erected. 
The  country  freedom  is  not  wholly  an  advantage. 
One  pastor  of  profound  thoughtfulness  in  a  town 
speaks  of  "  the  evil  of  people  knowing  too  much 
of  each  other,"  of  the  consequent  idle  gossip  in- 
cessantly flowing,  and  the  petty  meannesses  de- 
veloped. He  means,  of  course,  that  they  dwell 
too  largely  upon  trifling  matters  of  each  others* 
lives  which  they  freely  make  it  their  business  to 
investigate  and  disseminate. 

This  pastor  sees  the  social  ailment  but  is  his 
diagnosis  accurate?  It  may  be  rather  knowing 
too  little  of  the  real  man  or  woman  in  the  folly 
of  making  so  much  of  his  trifling  faults  and 
weaknesses.  The  man  from  the  country  goes  to 
191 


192 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


the  city,  becomes  famous,  and  returns  a  great 
man  to  the  astonishment  of  his  neightiors.  Jesus 
himself  lived  in  a  small  town  of  this  sort  and  was 
without  honor  there,  and  even  when  he  returned 
as  the  wonder-working  prophet,  about  whom  the 
whole  nation  was  talking,  his  neighbors  were 
disgusted  at  his  claims  and  drove  him  out.  Was 
it  that  they  knew  too  much  of  him?  Was  it 
not  rather  because  they  knew  him  only  as  the 
carpenter  going  to  his  daily  toil,  and  as  Joseph's 
son  with  James  and  Joses,  very  ordinary  fellows, 
as  his  brothers,  and  his  sisters,  good  young 
women,  doubtless,  but  with  no  special  gifts 
or  promise?  And  Jesus  himself  had  lived 
just  an  ordinary  life  since  childhood,  had  never 
in  Nazareth  performed  a  miracle,  nor  made  a 
public  address,  not  anything  different  from  Joseph 
or  his  brothers  or  sisters. 

Of  course  they  did  not  know  of  his  many  trips 
to  the  hills  and  his  all-night  prayers  with  God; 
they  did  not  remember  his  famous  interview 
with  the  doctors  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem 
nearly  twenty  years  before,  and  probably  that 
was  the  only  such  interview ;  they  knew  nothing 
of  what  was  in  his  heart,  or  the  plans  of  the 
kingdom  growing  in  his  mind,  nor  the  wonderful 
teachings  he  was  preparing  in  those  long  years. 
How  very  little  they  knew  of  him! 

The  stories  of  Jesus  and  the  people  of 
Nazareth,  of  David  and  his  brothers  and  father 
who  did  not  know  him,  and  of  Joseph  and  his 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  193 

family,  are  true  to  the  social  life  of  the  village 
and  town,  where  the  gossiping  people  know  each 
other  only  by  surface  characteristics.  That  is 
sure  to  be  the  case  where  there  is  such  freedom 
of  tongue  with  personal  affairs.  Why  do  not 
country  people  know  each  other  fully?  By  the 
inevitable  consequence  that  they  fear  to  reveal 
the  deeper  and  finer  feelings  and  aspirations  of 
their  souls  to  such  rude  handling.  The  country 
boy  with  exalted  ideals  hides  them  even  from 
his  mother,  for  she  would  tell  them  and  after  she 
left  the  neighbors  would  laugh  and  jeer  over 
them. 

How  unfair  the  scales  upon  which  they  weigh 
their  neighbors  !  "  Bill  "  Jones  of  the  village  to- 
day is  despised  because  the  uncle  of  his  grand- 
father on  his  mother's  side  was  a  horse  thief,  or 
at  least  was  once  accused  of  stealing  a  horse, 
though  some  one  argued  in  behalf  of  Bill  that 
the  horse  had  only  wandered  away  and  returned 
to  the  stable.  But  village  memories  of  such 
transactions  are  long  on  the  evil  side  and  short  on 
the  other.  Bill  himself  was  not  of  a  high 
order  of  good  character  and  "  would  probably 
not  be  above  stealing  a  horse  himself  if  he  had  a 
chance,"  so  that  the  ancient  suspicion  was  kept 
alive  against  him.  Did  Bill  ever  steal  ?  "  Not 
that  anybody  ever  found  out,"  nothing  worse 
than  apples  from  the  orchards  and  that  is  not 
stealing  there.  And  worst  of  all,  Bill  can  never 
do  a  good  deed,  a  really  good  deed,  without  hav- 


194  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

ing  that  ugly  old  story  also  told  while  the  good 
deed  is  mentioned. 

Sue  Smith  is  shunned  and  talked  about  because 
she  wants  to  go  to  college  though  she  comes 
from  that  poor  farm  hand's  family  in  the  little 
tenant  house.  "  The  upstart !  thinks  herself  bet- 
ter than  other  folks !  "  The  village  declares  it 
would  be  better  for  her  to  learn  how  to  wash 
and  iron  well,  which  by  the  way  she  can  do,  and 
the  village  heard  from  some  one,  they  can't  say 
who  said  it  and  they  would  not  swear  to  it,  that 
Sue  does  not  like  washing  over  much.  Of  course 
no  one  else  of  the  gossiping  women  likes  it  over 
much  but  that  is  against  Sue,  not  against  them. 

So  the  country  district  judges  its  neighbors 
with  petty  unfairness.  It  may  not  be  they  con- 
demn people  for  being  poor,  for  they  cannot  in 
self-defense  set  up  such  a  standard.  Nor  for 
lack  of  college  diploma  for  the  same  reason,  nor 
of  title  or  distinguished  family.  The  city  dis- 
tinctions are  impossible  at  the  cross-roads.  But 
the  village  and  town  have  others  at  hand  just  as 
unreasonable.  And  often,  just  as  in  the  city, 
people  are  criticized  for  the  things  in  which  they 
have  done  better  than  others,  and  condemned  for 
having  higher  aspirations  than  the  critics  have. 

Some  country  towns  have  a  local  humorist  or 
buffoon,  who  can  turn  to  ridicule  the  deeper  and 
finer  things  of  his  more  prosperous  and  abler 
neighbors.  The  whole  town  is  now  retailing  his 
cruel  thrusts  and  is  convulsed  with  laughter  over 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUS T  BE  SPREAD.  1 9 ^ 

the  funny  thing  about  so  and  so.  Who  would 
expose  anything  precious  he  could  conceal  in 
that  place  to  such  rude  and  unappreciative  be- 
holders ?  So  the  people  of  the  little  town  seldom 
come  to  know  the  best  of  their  neighbor's  spirit 
and  character.  They  know  not  too  much  but  too 
little  of  each  other. 

Here  is  the  opportunity  of  the  Christian  pastor 
and  his  good  people.  They  must  create  the  new 
atmosphere  in  which  the  delicate  plants  of  beau- 
tiful traits  of  character  can  grow.  They  must 
think  on  the  things  that  are  noble  and  true  and 
exalted,  and  compel  respect  for  these  things. 
They  must  protect  the  modest  young  girl  who 
reaches  for  higher  things  from  the  cruel  malice 
and  envy  of  others,  and  the  splendid  young  boy 
from  the  reiteration  of  the  sins  or  supposed  sins 
of  a  great-grandfather's  unfortunate  life. 

Remember  further  that  the  little  village  of  the 
old  type  has  no  large  interests  like  those  of  the 
city,  nor  the  great  movements  of  the  wide  world 
to  discuss.  Everything  is  small  there  and  in- 
tensely personal  in  its  aspects.  So  the  gossip  is 
wholly  about  individuals  and  the  petty  circum- 
stances of  such  quiet  lives.  Such  things  must 
be  magnified  and  grossly  exaggerated  to  be 
worth  talking  about  even  there,  and  thus  the 
habit  of  adding  much  that  is  pure  imagination 
and  much  that  is  wholly  rumor  grows  apace, 
and  mountains  are  made  of  mole-hills  in  this 
cruel  and   crushing  analysis  of  motives,  words 


1^6  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

and  actions  of  their  neighbors,  of  whom  often,  as 
we  have  seen,  really  very  little  is  known.  Worse 
still,  if  instead  of  a  sort  of  friendly  interest  there 
is  felt  toward  the  persons  a  jealousy,  or  envy, 
or  resentment  of  some  fancied  or  real  wrong. 

The  new  era  of  good  roads,  electric  cars,  tele- 
phone, and  daily  city  newspaper  is  working  a 
revolution  in  the  town  and  cross-roads,  and  its 
first  change  is  to  furnish  great  topics  for  conver- 
sation. The  small  affairs  of  the  next  neighbor 
sink  out  of  sight  and  the  villagers  are  discussing 
the  vast  transformation  of  China,  the  earthquake 
in  Sicily,  and  the  great  reforms  of  America. 
This  new  era  leaves  the  old  social  freedom  undis- 
turbed but  infuses  new  ideals.  It  will  develop 
the  fellowship  of  noble  purposes  and  higher  as- 
pirations in  country  places. 

Even  before  the  new  era  arrives  a  few  Chris- 
tian families  may  accomplish  a  social  uplift. 
This  requires  a  common  purpose  to  do  so  in 
these  families  and  a  resolute  campaign.  It  will 
be  a  matter  of  setting  a  noble  example  of  true 
neighborliness,  of  kindly,  sympathetic,  confiden- 
tial friendships  and  frowning  upon  gossip.  A 
strict  line  drawn  around  the  privacy  of  homes 
and  a  cultured  courtesy  in  speaking  of  each  other. 
It  will  set  a  standard  of  Christian  social  life,  and 
setting  the  standard  of  social  intercourse  is  al- 
ways the  initiative  of  the  better  life.  There  will 
often  be  necessary  the  courteous  silence  when 
small  affairs  of  personal  life  are  gossiped,  or  the 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  107 

early  withdrawal  from  the  group.  A  wise  word 
from  the  Scriptures  is  most  effective,  "  Judge  not 
that  ye  be  not  judged." 

But  chiefly  it  will  consist  in  the  creation  of  an 
atmosphere  in  which  the  gentler  and  wiser  dis- 
cussions can  flourish.  The  happy  homes  of  the 
Christian  families,  their  large  hospitality  to  each 
other  and  to  friends,  and  their  own  Christlike 
spirit  will  make  the  atmosphere.  And  thus  by 
example,  standard,  and  atmosphere  the  day  of 
petty  things  will  end  and  the  world  come  into  the 
horizon  of  the  cross-roads. 

The  examples,  even  a  few  of  them,  of  girls 
beautifully  modest  in  relation  to  young  men, 
forbidding  the  rude  freedom  of  kisses  by  fine 
dignity,  and  the  small  love  talk  will  impress  the 
giddy  set.  One  such  splendid  young  woman  has 
influenced  a  whole  village.  And  a  few  young 
men,  pure  in  thought  and  word,  chivalric  in  cour- 
tesy to  all  women,  yet  genial  and  social,  will  turn 
the  tide  to  genuine  refinement. 

These  Christian  people  should  cultivate  the 
godly  grace  of  hospitality.  There  is  serious  loss 
to  city  Christian  life  in  the  virtual  abandonment 
of  any  general  hospitality  in  the  Churches.  We 
need  not  here  show  how  much  may  yet  be  done 
to  revive  it  in  the  city,  but  in  the  country  the 
perplexing  difficulties  of  city  homes  in  regard  to 
entertaining  friends  at  meals  or  fpr  the  night  do 
not  exist.  And  there  is  a  fellowship  around  a 
table   which   is   unique.     It   seems   divinely   or- 


1^8  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

dained  that  eating  together  opens  hearts  and 
promotes  deep  friendships. 

Confidential  friendships  are  the  most  heavenly 
enjoyment  on  earth  and  the  best  one  soul  can 
give  another.  If  it  becomes  a  fellowship  of  part- 
nership in  every  good  work  it  will  be  closest  of 
all  union  of  heart.  For  even  in  relation  to  God 
there  is  a  closer  fellowship  than  that  of  sonship 
with  him.  It  is  when  the  Christian  enters  upon 
the  work  of  God  in  co-operation  with  him,  for 
partnership  with  God  is  more  wonderful  still. 

With  such  social  life  in  the  country,  "  John  " 
will  not  "  Quit  the  Farm  "  at  all.  It  is  James 
Whitcomb  Riley's  sweet  poem  that  tells  of  John's 
return  in  colloquial: — 

"  And  so  I  turnt  and  looked  around,  some  one  riz  up  and 
leant 

And  put  his  arms  round  Mother's  neck,  and  laughed  in  low 
content. 

'  It's  me,'  he  says,  '  your  fool-boy  John,  come  back  to  shake 
your  hand  ; 

Set  down  with  you,  and  talk  with  you,  and  make  you  under- 
stand 

How  dearer  yet  than  all    the  world   is    this  old  home  that  we 

Will  spend  Thanksgivin  in  fer  life — jest  Mother,  you  and 
me!"' 

There  are  the  sweet  kinships  of  large  family 
life,  the  life-long  friendships,  and  the  only  real 
home  life  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


VILLAGE    IMPROVEMENT. 


A  SIGNAL  advance  in  Christian  civilization  such 
as  makes  Christian  principles  more  largely  to 
control  in  life,  is  being  accomplished  by  Village 
Improvement  Associations.  It  is  a  popular  move- 
ment almost  everywhere  in  villages  and  small 
towns,  and  its  lines  of  good  work  radiate  in  many 
directions. 

This  association  devotes  itself  to  the  physical 
improvement  of  the  place,  but  this  leads  to  much 
that  is  related  to  character  and  even  to  Christian 
life,  as  practical  experience  has  demonstrated. 

I.  The  beautifying  of  homes  and  their  sur- 
roundings. In  many  a  cross-roads  village  the 
houses  are  unsightly  and  unpainted,  dilapidated 
buildings  and  sheds  abound,  and  a  general  ap- 
pearance of  shabbiness  and  neglect  everywhere. 
The  first  suggestion  of  the  association  is  to  paint 
the  houses  as  soon  as  possible,  remove  the  rub- 
bish, and  clean  up  generally.  It  surprises  every- 
body what  a  change  can  be  effected  with  small 
199 


200  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

expense.  The  doors  and  the  windows  are  made 
more  attractive  and  the  approaches  to  the  house 
cleaned  and  repaired. 

Then  the  surroundings  of  homes  are  taken  in 
hand.  Trees  are  planted  in  artistic  order,  old 
trees  trimmed,  or  straightened.  Flowers  are 
studied  and  finer  modern  plants  are  substituted 
for  the  scrawny,  half-wild,  and  rude  "  posies " 
of  the  grandmothers  so  amusing  to  visitors. 
Flower  beds  are  planned  for  fine  effects.  Some 
village  homes  have  the  possibility  of  a  fine  lawn 
and  this  is  graded,  walks  arranged  to  be  artistic, 
and  general  landscape  effects  are  considered. 
Old  fences  are  removed  entirely  where  possible, 
cattle  and  stock  not  permitted  to  roam,  and  new 
fences  erected  when  needed,  or  the  old  repaired 
and  repainted.  The  association  has  often  in  a 
few  years  produced  a  transformation  of  the  place 
in  which  every  one  becomes  enthusiastically  in- 
terested, and  the  few  aged  or  poor  people  un- 
able of  themselves  to  keep  pace  with  the  rest 
are  kindly  assisted  by  association  funds.  It  is 
important  manifestly  to  secure  the  membership 
of  every  one  who  can  possibly  be  persuaded  to 
join,  at  the  start.  Then  in  the  association  meet- 
ings all  suggestions  can  be  discussed  and  com- 
fortably adopted,  and  no  criticism  of  particular 
houses  be  necessary. 

2.  Then  comes  the  removal  of  unsightly  and 
unpleasant  things  of  a  larger  character,  such  as 
tumble-down  sheds,  which  may  be  seen  in  many 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  20 1 

a  country  place,  lingering  for  years  probably  un- 
used. The  owner  is  often  a  non-resident  and 
no  one  concerns  himself  about  it.  The  associa- 
tion gets  it  removed.  And  there  is  an  ancient 
rubbish  heap  near  the  old  road.  Everybody 
dumped  upon  it  for  years,  but  now  the  old  tin 
cans,  the  dirty  heaps  of  paper  cannot  be  endured. 
The  owner  of  the  ground  is  appealed  to  courte- 
ously and  he  clears  it  away  or  is  assisted  by  the 
association.  Tottering  fences  all  along  the  high- 
ways seem  to  get  a  new  life  and  begin  to 
straighten  to  the  new  dignity  and  beauty  that  has 
come  over  the  town.  The  rotting  old  tree  with 
one  branch  split  into  the  trunk,  unsymmetrical 
and  dead,  must  come  down.  In  many  particulars 
the  man-made  town  gets  into  harmony  with  God- 
made  Nature  and  both  look  more  attractive  to 
all  eyes.  Especially  upon  young  and  impressible 
minds  are  these  changes  helpful.  A  new  love  of 
home  and  self-respect  of  immense  value  is  pro- 
moted. 

3.  General  esthetic  culture  comes  rapidly  with 
these  improvements.  The  love  of  beauty  is 
clearly  related  to  the  good,  though  it  can  never 
be  a  substitute  for  it.  But  there  is  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  the  higher  attraction  the  good  will  pos- 
sess when  it  is  clothed  in  its  glorious  appropriate- 
ness. So  the  village  will  soon  seek  for  pictures 
and  homes  beautified  without  will  develop  new 
attractiveness  within.  The  association  now  gives 
art  lectures  occasionally  and  may  plan  an  "  Art 


202  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Week "  with  borrowed  pictures  from  the  best 
homes,  possibly  interesting  some  city  art  dealer 
to  exhibit  a  few  moderately  priced  good  pieces 
and  pictures.  The  slumbering  genius  of  some 
village  Raphael  or  Murillo  is  awakened  and  a 
new  era  is  steadily  coming  to  young  and  old  that 
makes  life  immensely  more  interesting  and  worth 
while. 

Very  often  a  village  singing-school  follows, 
which  grows  into  a  choral  society  and  a  band  of 
instrumentalists.  The  singing-school  may  be 
made  a  very  valuable  adjunct  to  general  culture. 
It  will  be  a  social  gathering  of  the  better  sort. 
It  will  require  tactful  government  to  prevent  re- 
lapse into  rude,  old-time  manners,  but  real  re- 
finement is  also  contagious  and  the  association 
leaders  can  create  the  "  atmosphere."  In  Eng- 
land there  are  rural  sections  which  have  sur- 
prising results  from  village  choral  societies. 
Classic  productions  are  rendered  by  them  credit- 
ably, and  great  oratorios  like  "  Elijah,"  and  "  The 
Messiah  "  are  annually  produced.  The  wonder- 
ful work  in  music  of  the  Welsh  towns  and  vil- 
lages is  also  well  known,  and  much  of  this  is 
being  reproduced  by  Welsh  communities  now  in 
America  in  the  coal  regions.  Can  a  thoughtful 
man  conceive  the  new  life  the  village  will  ac- 
quire under  the  stimulus  of  such  a  choral  society  ? 
And  the  new  worship  possible  in  the  churches, 
the  entertainments,  the  social  delights,  and  the 
character  building  of  it  all? 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  203 

Young  people  will  be  brought  together  under 
good  auspices  in  the  singing-school.  Many 
happy  marriages  will  result  from  it,  not  the  least 
of  its  benefits.  For  it  is  one  of  the  serious  prob- 
lems of  modern  society,  which  sociologists  have 
scarcely  begun  to  study,  how  to  bring  young 
men  and  young  women  together  in  a  place  free 
enough  to  admit  of  thorough  acquaintance  and 
refined  enough  to  promote  the  noblest  mutual 
respect,  so  that  wise  choice  of  husband  or  wife 
may  be  possible  with  adequate  knowledge  of 
each  other's  temperament,  character,  and  abili- 
ties. The  study  of  the  divorce  evil  is  imperative, 
but  if  more  really  sensible  attention  were  given 
to  the  beginnings  of  planning  for  marriages, 
there  would  be  little  need  of  agonizing  discus- 
sions of  divorce.  We  are  almost  wholly  blind  to 
the  duty  of  providing  these  good  beginnings  and 
of  instructing  young  people  upon  marriage  re- 
sponsibilities. Prevention  here  is  far  better  than 
cure. 

4.  The  preservation  of  historic  spots  and 
relics  is  a  splendid  work  for  the  association.  Al- 
most every  village  has  some  "  history  "  of  value, 
some  of  them  are  allowing  famous  relics  or  su- 
premely important  events  to  be  unnoted  and  un- 
marked. It  is  a  great  day  for  all  the  country 
round  when  the  little  monument  or  artistic 
marker  of  the  momentous  event  is  dedicated. 
Every  such  opportunity  is  a  prize  for  village 
improvement. 


204  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Sometimes  the  spot  is  simply  a  relic  of  some 
prominent  early  citizen  of  the  village,  not  con- 
nected with  any  matter  of  general  importance. 
Or  it  may  be  a  building  of  some  significance  in 
local  history.  But  it  should  be  earnestly  worked 
up.  An  old  citizen  of  fine  character  is  a  valuable 
asset  and  deserves  special  honor.  The  village  is 
elevating  itself  when  it  pays  tribute  to  its  best 
men  and  women. 

5.  The  approaches  to  a  town  may  be  greatly 
improved  by  the  association.  One  town  con- 
structed solid  roads  three  miles  in  every  direc- 
tion beyond  its  borders.*  It  was  an  excellent 
business  proposition,  for  it  has  drawn  farmer 
buyers  to  the  town  permanently.  Such  a  road 
between  two  towns  might  be  built  by  them 
jointly.  These  towns  would  develop  improve- 
ments rapidly. 

So  railroad  accommodations  may  be  made  bet- 
ted by  united  effort.  There  are  towns  that  have 
missed  their  chance  forever  by  refusing  conces- 
sions of  a  very  reasonable  character  when  a  new 
railroad  route  was  being  planned.  Some  narrow- 
minded  citizen  made  exorbitant  demands  for 
right-of-way  needed,  and  frequently  several  citi- 
zens thus  block  the  way.  A  little  reasoning  with 
these  men  by  fellow  citizens  in  most  cases  would 
have  secured  the  compromise  and  brought  the 
railroad  to  their  doors.  But  no  such  effort  was 
made,  and  now  the  unfortunate  village  stands 

*  Federalsburg,  Maryland. 


CHRIS  TIA  N  PR  INC  I  PL  ES  MUS  T  BE  SPREA  Z).  2  05 

miles  away  from  the  stream  of  business  the  rail- 
road has  brought.  And  all  the  blessings  of 
Christian  civilization  the  railroad  has  come  to 
signify  are  lost  to  that  place.  Its  best  young 
men  go  to  railroad  towns,  and  its  churches, 
business  and  home  life  dwindle  year  after  year. 
So  with  telegraph  and  telephone  facilities  for 
a  town.  A  few  hours'  travel  from  a  great  Ameri- 
can city  brings  one  to  where  the  telegraph  and 
telephone  are  twenty  miles  away.  The  boat  that 
landed  us  has  gone  and  a  sense  of  indescribable 
isolation  from  loved  ones  and  other-world  con- 
sciousness creeps  over  the  soul.  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  city  life  for  years,  with  a  'phone  on  the 
desk  at  hand,  a  telegraph  messenger  boy  on 
call,  six  mail  deliveries  a  day,  and  how  strangely 
distressing  is  this  two-day  loneliness  with  no  let- 
ter, not  a  word  from  home,  not  a  daily  paper 
known,  and  twenty  miles  drive  through  sandy 
roads,  the  horse  making  four  miles  an  hour  to 
connect  with  real  life !  The  effect  on  the  visitor 
there  is  paralyzing,  the  paralysis  of  his  fellow- 
ship with  the  world  and  with  his  loved  ones.  It 
is  not  paralyzing  to  the  local  inhabitants,  for  they 
are  already  dead  to  such  broader  life ;  not  a  daily 
paper  ever  comes  to  that  place,  nor  a  good 
weekly,  and  I  could  not  find  the  monthly  mag- 
azine, almost  everywhere  else  crowding  the 
world.  The  people  have  little  to  do  for  several 
months,  they  sleep  most  of  the  day,  some  of  them 


2o6  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

late  through  the  morning  and  all  of  them  early 
at  night.    There  are  few  books  in  the  place. 

Think  of  the  transformation  of  a  village  like 
that  by  a  daily  mail  bringing  daily  newspapers 
widely  read;  by  the  telephone,  telling  of  every 
happening  an  hour  afterward;  by  telegraph  and 
electric  railways.  Think  of  the  moral  effects, 
the  character  influences,  the  larger  religious  pos- 
sibilities when  this  unconnected  sleeping  town  is 
brought  into  the  circle  of  Christian  civilization 
by  the  helping  hands  of  steel  and  electricity.  It 
is  a  Christly  act  of  the  village  association  to 
reach  out  the  steel  hands  and  clasp  them  home, 
just  as  it  is  unquestionably  Divine  Providence 
which  brought  these  forces  of  civilization. 

6.  The  Village  Improvement  Association  will 
wisely  foster  business  pride.  The  results  of 
arousing  local  merchants  and  professional  men  are 
far-reaching  in  one  tov/n  of  many  we  might  name. 
Every  store  is  made  more  attractive,  some  of  the 
newer  ones  have  fine  show  windows  that  ap- 
proach the  taste  and  beauty  of  city  shops.  There 
is  friendly  competition  to  exhibit  the  finest  dis- 
play of  goods,  which  in  turn  is  rewarded  by  pur- 
chasers from  other  towns  and  for  miles  around. 
This  increase  of  income  leads  to  a  fine  bank,  one 
of  the  sights  shown  with  real  pride  to  a  visitor. 
The  cashier  assures  the  visitor  the  village  bank 
pays.  The  churches  show  the  prosperity  of  the 
town  in  a  material  beautifying  and  enlargement, 
and  here  too  is  the  benefit  of  the  approaches  to 


CHRISTIAN  PRIxVCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  207 

the  town  strongly  seen.  So  closely  do  the  good 
things  of  life  hang  together.  The  little  town  has 
become  a  Garden  of  Eden  in  physical  attractive- 
ness, and  in  its  people  a  refined  and  sympathetic 
Christian  character  is  developed. 

There  is  surely  no  environment  on  earth  so 
adapted  to  produce  noble  character  as  the  town 
morally  governed  by  the  Improvement  Associa- 
tion. So  far  as  environment  can  modify  or  pro- 
duce character  the  best  elements  are  there.  And 
there  the  springs  of  good  character  are  peren- 
nially fresh  and  life-giving.  The  good  father 
and  mother,  the  happy  home,  the  excellent 
school,  the  quiet  for  meditation,  the  deep  sweet 
friendship,  all  are  there.  The  influence  of  Na- 
ture in  beautiful  form,  the  church  has  its  best 
opportunity,  and  no  village  improvement  will 
overshadow  the  church  spire  nor  any  bells  ring 
so  sweetly  as  hers  in  the  ears  of  young  and  old. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   VILLAGE    LITERARY    SOCIETY. 

"The  average  American,"  says  a  humorist, 
"  loves  a  public  debate  as  he  does  a  dog  fight. 
He  bets  in  his  own  mind  on  one  of  the  combat- 
ants, and  sic,  sics  him  on  to  win  regardless  of 
the  merits  of  the  question.  It  is  not  a  place  to 
secure  a  good  decision  of  an  important  matter." 
A  very  able  preacher  on  doctrinal  questions  per- 
sistently refused  to  accept  a  challenge  to  a  pub- 
lic discussion  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
atmosphere  was  unfavorable  to  best  results.  Un- 
questionably the  personal  influence  of  the  de- 
baters has  large  weight  difficult  to  separate  in  a 
judicial  settlement  of  the  issue,  but  so  is  the  per- 
sonal equation  large  in  his  one-sided  pulpit 
utterances,  and  in  all  human  thinking  and  speak- 
ing. And  it  is  well  known  that  the  gravest 
issues  involving  property  and  life  are  determined 
in  our  courts  after  the  most  •impassioned  debate 
between  advocates  on  each  side. 

The  astronomer  has  learned  scientifically  to 
208 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUSTEK  SPREAD.  209 

determine  the  personal  factor  in  observations  of 
the  stars,  and  actually  has  on  record  the  fraction 
of  time  marking  the  "  personal  equation  "  of  all 
prominent  observers.  He  knows  how  to  elimi- 
nate it  from  the  result  and  to  make  that  almost 
perfect.  And  practically  the  thoughtful  hearer 
knows  the  peculiar  bias  or  temperament  of  a 
speaker  he  has  heard  a  few  times,  and  he  also 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously  allows  for 
that.  The  intense  feelings  aroused  by  the  debate 
make  for  greater  mental  activity  and  compensate 
for  the  partisan  attitudes  taken. 

The  Village  Literary  Society,  however,  which 
has  been  so  useful  in  many  places,  has  far  more 
to  commend  it  than  its  success  in  finally  setthng 
profound  questions  before  it.  For  one  good 
thing,  the  agitation  of  these  questions  by  sound 
arguments,  or  arguments  of  mere  sound,  either, 
starts  thinking  in  all  who  participate  and  it  is 
thinking  which  blesses  when  on  great  questions. 

The  organization  of  the  Hterary  society,  whose 
work  impressed  itself  on  the  village,  was  very 
simple.  It  was  effected  by  representative  citi- 
zens, members  of  different  Churches  and  out- 
siders, and  the  usual  officers  were  elected  who 
formed  the  executive  to  arrange  programs, 
secure  speakers,  and  manage  the  meetings. 
Meetings  in  one  case  were  held  weekly  and  in 
another  bi-weekly  on  Saturday  nights.  The 
places,  the  school  building  and  a  public  hall,  were 
thought   more   suitable   for   free   debate   than   a 


2IO  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

church,  though  nothing  actually  occurred  which 
the  people  would  have  considered  improper  in 
a  church.  The  interest  and  attendance  took  in 
the  entire  village  concerned  and  grew  steadily 
to  large  crowds.  Being  held  on  Saturday  eve- 
nings it  did  not  interfere  with  any  series  of 
religious  meetings  and  was  not  interrupted  by 
them. 

The  advantages  were  immediate.  The  topics 
ran  at  once  into  ethical  questions  and  the  pastors, 
school  teachers,  and  physicians  were  usually  the 
leading  talkers.  But  both  villages  had  intelli- 
gent business  men  who  participated,  and  some 
farmers.  Young  people  found  it  a  good  social 
meeting-place  and  were  started  vigorously  to 
think  on  great  questions  of  better  living.  There 
was  not  the  pride  of  personal  opinion  nor  the 
contest  to  win  which  had  been  feared,  but  in 
most  instances  an  evident  sincerity  in  seeking 
the  truth. 

Many  literary,  industrial,  political,  and  social 
questions  were  introduced  either  into  debates  or 
were  referred  to  some  one  for  investigation.  The 
reports  on  these  questions,  of  course,  differed 
greatly  in  value  but  none  of  them  were  without 
helpfulness.  The  current  of  village  thought  was 
guided  into  higher  channels  than  personal  gos- 
sip and  this  showed  itself  in  many  significant 
ways.  The  churches  felt  the  deeper  thoughtful- 
ness  in  their  services. 

The   referred    question    on    several    occasions 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  2 1 1 

was  of  extraordinary  interest.  When  it  was 
given  to  some  one  specially  informed,  as  in  the 
case  of  a  medico-ethical  subject  to  an  able  Chris- 
tian physician,  the  paper  resulting  was  of  un- 
usual value.  And  the  possibilities  of  such  helpful 
investigation  for  the  general  public  grew  in  the 
course  of  the  season. 

The  society  furnished  opportunity  for  enter- 
tainments of  the  better  sort  and  for  an  instruc- 
tive popular  lecture  under  auspices  that  insured 
an  audience.  It  gave  the  village,  also,  a  ready 
forum  for  current  local  agitation  of  needed  im- 
provements and  reform  of  abuses.  The  weight 
of  public  opinion  was  brought  directly  to  bear 
upon  the  good  or  the  evil  concerned.  For  this 
alone  it  was  well  worth  maintaining. 

The  educational  and  moral  reform  possibilities 
of  the  Literary  Society  were  a  matter  of  frequent 
consideration  by  the  leaders,  and  it  was  the  gen- 
eral conviction  that  no  more  beneficial  movement 
could  be  developed  than  the  regular  meetings  for 
discussion. 

Such  a  society  can  be  made  a  valuable  adjunct 
to  the  Village  Improvement  Association  and 
might  be  allied  with  that  movement,  though  if 
good  officers  could  be  secured  for  a  separate 
organization  it  would  be  better  to  have  each  as- 
sociation devote  its  energies  to  its  own  work. 
Many  citizens  would  naturally  belong  to  both. 
The  leaders  of  each  would  become  specialists 
for  their  own  movement. 


212  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

What  questions  could  be  helpful  to  the 
society?  We  suggest  a  few  as  illustrations  of 
what  may  be  thought  profitable : 

1.  Living  and  just  wages  are  such  that  the 
father  himself  can  support  the  family, 

2.  Honest  work  alone  has  the  right  to  full 
wages. 

3.  Workingmen's  unions  are  beneficial. 

4.  Marriages  for  money  or  titles  are  sinful. 

5.  Parents  should  have  more  to  do  with  their 
children's  choice  in  marriage. 

6.  Children  have  certain  inalienable  rights. 

7.  Every  voter  should  be  fined  for  not  voting. 

8.  The  State  should  provide  some  educational 
advantages  to  adults. 

9.  Necessity  is  never  an  excuse  for  sin. 

10.  Gluttony  is  as  sinful  as  drunkenness. 

11.  Tempting  others  to  sin  is  the  worst  of 
sins. 

12.  How  far  is  Socialism  really  Christian? 

In  two  villages  in  which  the  writer  actually 
organized  these  literary  societies  and  actively 
participated,  it  was  plain  to  every  one  that  far 
more  than  intellectual  benefit  accrued.  Socially 
there  was  a  vast  improvement,  for  the  meetings 
had  become  a  social  center,  and  the  people  came 
to  know  their  neighbors  more  than  superficially. 
Many  a  young  man  surprised  his  friends  by  his 
able  thinking  and  in  the  finer  traits  of  character 
he  manifested  in  one  way  or  another. 

Moral  reforms  received  a  new  hospitality  in 


CHRISTIAN  PRINCIPLES  MUST  BE  SPREAD.  213 

many  minds  and  hearts.  The  whole  town  was 
stirred  by  some  of  the  debates,  and  for  the  chil- 
dren and  young  people  it  was  plainly  an  educa- 
tion in  morals  that  neither  the  church,  nor  the 
home,  nor  school  was  furnishing  there.  There 
is  no  exercise  of  conscience,  except  in  noble  ac- 
tion, so  helpful  as  in  discriminating  the  factors 
of  a  moral  question  and  earnestly  discussing  it. 
There  was  genuine  character  building  in  these 
meetings. 

As  one  of  the  outside  movements  for  propa- 
gating Christian  principles  in  rural  districts  it 
ranks  next  to  the  church.  The  mission  of 
spreading  the  light,  extending  the  influence  of 
Christian  ideals,  and  for  arousing  enthusiasm  for 
their  realization  is  given  to  good  men,  as  citizens 
outside  of  the  church  and  we  have  now  set  forth 
the  various  ways  in  which  this  can  be  effectively 
done  in  country  places. 

Fortunately,  we  are  not  now  merely  in  the 
realm  of  theories,  important  as  theories  always 
are  in  further  progress.  We  have  notable  in- 
stances of  a  typical  character  where  all  the  plans 
have  been  more  or  less  fully  worked  out  and  suc- 
cessful. All  over  America  there  is  a  rise  of 
Christian  citizenship  which  is  alert  to  exercise 
its  rights  and  opportunities  for  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. It  has  developed  little  centers  of  power 
which  show  possibilities  for  all  other  country 
places. 

This  outside  light  and  overspreading  influence 


214 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


bf  Christianity  in  the  world  is  not  in  rivalry  with 
the  church  but  is  a  complement  to  her  work,  the 
ether  hemisphere  of  the  full  gospel  propaganda. 
It  must  be  fostered  by  the  church  in  her  teach- 
ing and  she  must  actively  train  workers  to  do 
this  bringing  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  into  all 
human  activity. 

The  church,  however,  has  her  specific  mission 
in  the  consummation  of  the  Kingdom  and  this 
we  now  proceed  to  investigate,  but  always  con- 
fined to  our  problem  of  the  rural  Christendom. 


SECTION   III. 

THE  CHURCH  FOR  THE  KING- 
DOM OF  CHRIST  IN  RURAL 
CHRISTIANIZING. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  PLACE  AND  POWER   OF  THE  LOCAL  CHURCH. 

The  local  church  Is  both  the  beginning  and 
the  finishing  workshop  of  Christianity.  It  is  the 
point  of  contact  with  the  individual  soul,  the 
place  where  the  actual  evangelizing,  teaching,  re- 
generating, and  training  of  men  must  be  done. 
It  is  the  source  of  supplies  for  all  of  Christ's 
work,  whether  of  men,  money,  or  spiritual 
power.  It  should  surely  be  the  strongest  and 
most  effective  of  the  wheel  within  wheels  of 
organized  Christianity. 

But  at  present  it  is  the  general  denominational 
organization  that  has  modern  life  and  spirit  and 
not  these  local  churches.  The  benevolent  socie- 
ties and  boards  of  the  church  are  finely  con- 
stituted, aggressive,  and  resourceful;  the  educa- 
tional general  movements  are  admirable;  the  su- 
pervision by  assemblies,  conferences,  synods  and 
other  bodies  is  thorough  and  inspiring.  Yet  all 
these  general  church  movements  are  in  crises 
of  sadly  inadequate  contributions  of  money. 
217 


2i8  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Missions  at  home  and  abroad,  larger  beneficences 
of  all  kinds  are  halted.  Appeals  are  made  to 
pastors  desperately  but  the  pastor  seems  to  be 
unable  to  advance  the  offerings  except  so  slowly 
as  to  seriously  retard  all  the  work.  Where  is  the 
crisis?  It  is  plainly  in  the  local  church  which  is 
the  unit  of  all  power  for  the  coming  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  At  a  time  when  America  is  enor- 
mously wealthy  and  prosperity  is  overwhelming 
the  nation,  a  really  small  proportion  of  the  an- 
nual increase,  which  is  crowding  Christian  hands 
to  hold,  cannot  be  gotten  for  the  world-wide  and 
nation-wide  movements  of  the  church !  A  few 
drops  from  the  cup  which  God  is  making  to  run 
over  would  satisfy  missions  and  all  other  work 
of  a  general  character  at  its  present  stages.  But 
these  drops  are  not  dropping. 

Because  in  city,  town,  and  country  place  the 
local  church  is' now  largely  an  unworked  asset 
of  Christendom.  Its  financial  possibilities  are 
barely  touched,  its  important  function  of  dis- 
covering able  workers  and  training  them  is  very 
feebly  exercised,  its  local  influence  and  immedi- 
ate results  in  conversions  are  pitiably  unde- 
veloped and  meager.  It  is  not  that  the  local 
church  has  failed.  The  condition  Is  that  of  an 
unworked  and  undeveloped  field  of  abundant 
resources. 

Pastors  all  over  the  country  in  more  than 
thirty  states  of  the  Union  give  me  the  follow- 
ing general  figures,  or  that  part  of  them  which 


THE  CHUR CH  IN  R  URAL  CHRIS TIANIZING.     2 1 9 

official  year  books  do  not  cover.  They  exhibit 
this  unworked  and  inactive  local  church,  not  so 
discouraging  as  it  ought  to  be  stirring  to  con- 
sider adequate  measures  at  once  for  sending  new 
Vi^ires  into  every  part  of  it  to  thrill  into  life  and 
splendid  response  all  these  idle  resources  to  be 
reached  and  used  for  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 
Whenever  even  a  beginning  in  a  modern  busi- 
ness spirit  an'd  thoroughness  has  been  made  in 
some  local  church  the  results  are  surprising.  It 
is  truly  an  unworked  field  in  large  part  but  it  is 
exceedingly  rich.  Where  are  the  undeveloped 
parts  ? 

1.  One-half  of  the  members  of  the  great  ma- 
jority of  churches  have  no  church-going  habit. 
They  attend  services  very  seldom.  One-half  of 
Christ's  army  are  in  their  tents  while  the  battle 
is  going  on.  A  large  and  regular  attendance  is 
necessary  to  unity,  power,  progress.  All  the 
church  buildings  in  America  are  probably  not 
large  enough  to  hold  at  one  time  all  the  members 
of  these  churches.  They  could  be  brought  out 
by  earnest  organization  and  work.  Who  can 
measure  the  new  power? 

2.  Two-thirds  of  the  church  m.embers  con- 
tribute very  little  to  the  income.  About  one- 
third  give  three-fourths  to  four-fifths  of  all  the 
church  receives;  another  third  give  something 
but  not  proportionately  or  systematically;  the 
last  third  throw  an  occasional  dime  or  nickel  on 
the  collection  plate.     These  two-thirds   can  be 


2  20  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

reached  by  a  Christian  business  system.  It  has 
been  done  in  some  local  churches.  Their  giv- 
ing would  overflow  every  treasury  of  the  local 
and  general  church.  The  crisis  in  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, in  Home  Missions,  and  all  larger  work  is 
here  at  the  unorganized  giving  of  the  local 
church. 

3.  Three-fourths  of  the  church  do  not  go  to 
any  service  between  Sundays.  Hence  many 
churches  in  large  towns  or  villages  have  only 
one  poorly-attended  and  dreary  week-night  meet- 
ing. But  the  mid-week  service  is  truly  the  ther- 
mometer of  the  church  spiritually.  A  pastor  in 
England  had  fifteen  hundred  men  at  his  prayer- 
meeting.*  It  can  be  done  here  when  the  condi- 
tions are  studied  and  met.  Who  can  measure 
what  the  whole  church  in  America  at  weekly 
meetings  on  one  or  two  nights,  would  mean  for 
evangelizing  power?  What  a  great  unplowed, 
unworked  field,  to  make  our  religion  an  every- 
day life  and  not  merely  a  Sunday  exercise. 

4.  Five-sixths  have  little  or  no  interest  in  gen- 
eral church  work  or  in  missions.  They  take  no 
church  paper,  attend  no  conventions  or  other 
gatherings,  give  a  little  money  only  under  special 
pressure  and  often  under  strong  appeals  to  vari- 
ous motives.  There  is  money  enough  in  that 
vast    unworked    field    to    flood    every    general 

*  Statement  of  Rev.  Dr.  Aked  of  New  York.  Rev.  Dr.  L. 
A.  Banks,  now  of  Denver,  has  long  been  famous  for  develop- 
ing prayer-meetings  as  large  as  this  mentioned. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R  URA L  CHRISTIANIZING.     2  2 1 

treasury  to  running  over,  and  then  to  multiply 
many  fold  all  the  forces  on  the  field.  It  can  be 
reached  by  the  methods  every  business  man 
would  know  how  to  start  and  perfect. 

5.  Nine-tenths  of  the  members  in  the  average 
church  (there  are  notable  exceptions),  do  no 
work  for  Christ  either  in  teaching,  public  prayer, 
administrative  or  benevolent  work,  or  any  other 
work  that  means  real  service.  What  an  army 
has  been  enlisted  but  has  been  given  no  guns, 
not  stationed  at  any  post!  The  inertia  of  this 
vast  mass  can  be  broken  up,  as  many  instances 
show,  and  practically  every  member  set  to  work 
at  what  he  or  she  can  do  for  Christ. 

6.  Ninety-five  out  of  a  hundred  in  the  church 
never  led  a  soul  to  Christ  nor  have  they  ever  done 
any  personal  work  of  a  soul-winning  character. 
What  if  only  one-fourth  of  all  the  members  can 
be  trained  for  such  personal  evangelism?  The 
world  would  shake  with  a  spiritual  earthquake. 

The  local  church  is  a  mine  of  unworked  treas- 
ures. And  the  condition  is  worst  in  all  these 
particulars  in  the  country  church  and  in  the  vil- 
lage. It  is  better  than  the  average  in  the  small 
city  up  to  one  hundred  thousand  population  where 
the  best  developed  churches  exist  to-day  but 
even  there  in  many  cases,  the  distressing  figures 
now  given  will  not  have  to  be  changed  radically. 

The  next  great  movement  of  Christendom, 
therefore,  will  be  the  development  of  the  local 
church.     Of  necessity,  for  there  is  the  crisis  of 


222  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Christian  progress.  If  a  general  movement  for 
organizing  in  a  modern  way  the  whole  local 
church  can  be  started  and  given  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  present  Sunday-school  movement  it  can 
be  done ;  if  the  whole  can  have  the  fire  and  power 
which  that  part,  the  Christian  Endeavor,  the 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  and  the  Epworth 
League  first  had,  it  will  be  done.  The  modern 
organizing  spirit  and  practical  methods  which 
have  rnade  Christian  civilization  will  at  last,  for 
the  church  itself  is  always  last  in  practical  good 
sense,  get  into  the  church,  and  she  who  has 
really  accomplished  wonders  of  accessions  to  dis- 
cipleship  and  influence  with  a  small  fraction  at 
work  will  sweep  the  world  when  all  her  re- 
sources are  engaged. 

This  is  supremely  important  in  our  rural 
Christendom  where  the  undeveloped  condition  is 
sorest  and  yet  where  so  large  a  majority  of  the 
whole  church  lives.  Though  the  church  there 
is  first  as  the  social  center  and  most  prominent 
of  buildings  it  is  closed  all  the  week  except  for 
a  few  hours.  It  touches  usually  only  the 
spiritual  side  of  man's  nature  and  that  partially 
and  unsystematically.  It  lacks  the  push  of  busi- 
ness and  the  interest  of  all  other  intellectual 
activities,  though  it  deals  with  the  profoundest 
problems  of  man's  life  from  the  most  fascinating 
book  in  the  world. 

The  rural  church  is  not  dead  but  unawakened ; 
not  exhausted  but  unworked;  not  crowded  with 


THE  CH  UK  CH  IN  R  URA  L  CHRIS  TIA  NIZING.    223 

workers  pushing  each  other  out  of  places,  as  in 
the  industrial  world,  but  a  factory  whose  wheels 
have  hardly  begun  to  turn  and  whose  work 
benches  invite  all  men  to  come  and  be  busy  in  the 
broadest  and  most  varied  service  to  mankind. 

Shall  we  now  get  for  ourselves  the  vision  of 
the  powerful  local  church?  The  vision  which 
Christ  saw  in  the  constitution  and  charter  he  gave 
to  his  church  is  the  most  practical  to-day. 
Surely  it  is  easier  to  work  the  church  according 
to  his  plans  with  his  power  than  on  any  lower 
plane.  Steadily  let  us  advance  from  the  good  to 
the  better  and  to  the  ideal  in  Christ.  The  good 
is  not  sufficient  when  the  better  is  possible  for 
"  the  good  may  be  the  enemy  of  the  best." 

"  Good,  better,  best, 
Never  let  it  rest 
Till  your  good  is  better 
And  your  better,  best!  " 

Let  US  get  a  national  view  of  the  local  churches 
of  America,  to  see  them  in  rural  districts. 

First,  the  entire  number  in  cities  and  rural 
places  of  the  principal  denominations  :* 


Churches, 

Members, 

Baptist, 

15  Denominations,     55,294 

5.224,305 

Catholics, 

9               "                 12,764 

12,069,275 

Congregationalists, 

5.941 

699.277 

Disciples, 

"'307 

1,285,123 

Jews, 

2  Bodies,                         570 

143,000 

Lutherans, 

24  Denominations,     13,169 

2,022,608 

Methodists, 

17                "                 61,518 

4,660,784 

Presbyterians, 

12                "                  16,478 

1,821,904 

Prot.  Episcopal, 

2                "                   7.779 

830,659 

Reformed, 

3                •'                    2,596 

410,458 

*  Statistics   for 

190S  by  Dr.  H.  K.  Carroll  in 

•*  Christian 

Advocate,"  N.  Y. 

224  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

The  total  number  of  all  Christian  churches  is 
210,249  and  33,409,104  members  in  all. 

The  country  districts,  farming,  village,  town, 
contain  three-fifths  of  all  the  population  of  the 
land  and  their  proportion  of  churches  is  even 
greater;  it  is  likely  that  nearly  150,000  churches 
are  scattered  in  American  rural  regions.  The 
number  of  members,  however,  is  far  smaller 
relatively  than  in  cities. 

We  have,  therefore,  nearly  150,000  country 
churches  which  may  become  centers  of  spiritual 
power  and  of  many  streams  of  helpfulness  to  all 
the  people.  There  are  only  140,519  Sunday- 
schools  in  America  and,  as  nearly  all  city 
churches  have  Sunday-schools,  it  is  certain  that 
only  one-half  of  all  rural  churches  in  all  the 
land  maintain  a  Sunday-school.  What  a  startling 
side-light  upon  our  problem  is  this  single  fact! 
The  Sunday-school  enrolment  is  only  11,229,953 
or  about  one-third  of  the  total  church  member- 
ship. A  fair  estimate  of  the  rural  situation  in  re- 
gard to  the  Sunday-school  would  indicate  that 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  church  members  do 
not  go  to  Sunday-school. 

Before  entering  upon  specific  lines  of  Christ's 
work  in  the  local  church,  we  must  look  again 
upon  Christ's  own  declaration  of  the  principles 
underlying  his  work.  We  discussed  them  at 
length  in  the  opening  chapter  of  Section  II.  and 
need  here  only  outline  them  afresh. 

I.  Organization,  perfected  and  extended  to  the 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     225 

last  member,  as  the  medium  for  immediate  and 
fullest  expression  for  the  spirit  of  God. 

2.  The  willing  ones  to  begin  with,  the  nucleus 
of  power  and  lasting  enthusiasm,  and  the  quickest 
way  to  large  results. 

3.  Sacrifice  for  Christ  in  gratitude  for  his  life 
and  death  for  us.  The  heroic  spirit  still  in  most 
men  responds  always  most  largely  to  it,  and  it  is 
the  way  to  power,  joy,  and  earnestness.  Christ, 
no  less  than  the  nation,  must  have  soldiers  ready 
to  give  their  lives  and  their  all  for  his  service. 
This  is  no  sentiment  but  a  plain  practical  princi- 
ple as  successful  to-day  as  ever  in  Apostolic 
times. 

4.  The  call  of  God  felt  by  leaders  and  workers. 
Upon  these  cardinal  principles  the  Primitive 
Church  conquered  the  world  in  a  few  centuries 
with  supreme  difficulties  of  travel  and  opposition. 
The  Reformation  returned  to  them  and  swept 
over  Europe  with  spiritual  Christianity.  The  re- 
vivals and  missionary  expansion  of  recent  years 
came  in  the  same  way. 

Here  the  country  church  may  stand  and  con- 
quer, whether  in  sparsely  settled  farming  region, 
in  the  village,  the  town,  or  the  suburb,  with  the 
assurance  of  charter  rights  from  Christ  himself, 
and  of  his  immediate  and  ever-growing  power  in 
it. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


TO   EVERY   CREATURE. 


Christ's  Church  is  commanded  to  preach  his 
gospel  to  every  creature  and  to  teach  every  one 
all  the  things  he  commanded.  In  another  putting 
of  it,  she  is  commanded  to  make  disciples  of  all 
men,  to  go  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  the 
streets  and  lanes  of  the  cities  and  compel  them  to 
come  to  him. 

The  general  church  is  magnificently  assuming 
this  responsibility  for  the  whole  world.  Pastors 
have  long  led  in  general  movements  of  their 
denominations  as  a  whole,  and  now  the  laymen 
are  in  similar  general  organizations.  They  have 
wonderful  visions,  "  to  save  the  world  in  this 
generation  " — "  We  can  if  we  will  " — "  We  can 
and  we  will."  Then  there  is  the  Young  People's 
remarkable  Missionary  Movement,  a  federation 
for  all  the  churches. 

But  all  these  are  almost  wholly  great  move- 
ments outside  of  the  local  churches.  The  older 
movements,  chiefly  of  pastors,  embraced  a  large 
226 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING. 


227 


number  of  choice  spirits  coming  together  in 
large  conventions  and  organizing  general  Boards, 
and  appeahng  to  the  local  churches  as  units  or 
to  them  through  their  pastors.  The  laymen's 
association  likewise  gathers  the  choice  spirits 
here  and  there  but  away  from  their  local 
churches,  and  they  organize  other  denominational 
movements  once  more  appealing  to  the  local 
church  as  a  unit,  but  they  get  no  farther  in  reach- 
ing the  individuals  of  that  sadly  undeveloped 
unit  of  power. 

These  general  movements  would  be  mighty 
dynamos  of  inspiration  if  the  local  church  could 
be  adequately  wired.  But  five-sixths  of  the  local 
church  never  hear  of  them,  nor  feel  their  thrill 
of  a  new  enthusiasm,  nor  their  awful  sense  of 
personal  responsibility.  Until  these  are  reached 
all  the  general  missionary  movements  expend 
themselves  upon  a  few  men  in  association  with 
them  who  in  their  local  churches  already  are  pay- 
ing most  of  the  contributions,  and  filling  three 
or  four  important  offices  each.  It  will  do  these 
men  great  good  and  will  add  somewhat  to  the 
income  for  missions,  though  nearly  all  of  these 
leaders  have  already  given  generously  and 
steadily. 

Meanwhile  the  supply  of  men  for  the  min- 
istry is  becoming  a  serious  problem  in  many 
churches,  and  volunteers  for  missions  are  not  of 
the  sort  needed.  One  Board  examined  scores  of 
applicants  and  was  able  to  accept  less  than  half 


228  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

a  dozen.    Another  examined  fifty  and  took  only 
two. 

The  local  church,  every  local  church  in  city 
and  country,  now  stands  in  the  way  and  must  be 
dealt  with  in  the  light  of  all  modern  intelligence 
for  organizing  and  developing  latent  energies. 
Here  is  where  Christ's  chariot  of  triumph  has 
stopped. 

I.  The  local  church  must  be  made  to  feel  its 
mission  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature. 
Every  member  of  it  has  laid  upon  him  by  Christ 
his  share  of  world-wide  evangelization,  it  is  his 
personal  duty,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  pastor 
and  the  church  to  bring  it  home  to  him.  The 
local  church  must  stand  for  the  salvation  of  the 
whole  world  first  of  all,  and  have  that  laid  upon 
the  conscience  of  every  member  sincerely,  un- 
flinchingly for  Christ's  sake.  You  will  say,  prac- 
tically in  the  country  church  this  simply  means 
that  we  appeal  again  to  the  pastors  as  we  have 
so  often  done.  No !  it  means  that  by  every 
means  the  pastor  must  understand  that  a  new 
gospel,  the  old  gospel  so  long  unpreached,  of 
fearful  individual  responsibility  for  the  world's 
salvation  must  ring  in  the  local  church. 
Preached  until  every  man  is  reached  and  in  line. 
It  means  that  we  can  assure  pastors  from  nota- 
le  cases  that  such  a  gospel  will  be  responded  to 
and  divinely  blessed.  That  if  the  pastor  begins 
with  the  nucleus  of  willing  ones  and  persistently 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     229 

reaches  out  he  will  have  enlisted  the  whole 
church. 

Beginning  with  the  willing  ones  as  a  center 
of  power  is  the  secret  of  successful  church  organ- 
ization. Never  to  be  discouraged  at  the  small- 
ness  of  beginnings,  but  to  call  for  those  whose 
hearts  God  has  touched  and  who  gladly  re- 
spond, intensify  their  earnestness  until  it  flames, 
plan  most  aggressive  personal  work  through 
them,  persevere  in  it  as  all  business  men  know 
how  to  do,  and  the  local  church  can  be  worked 
over  in  a  year  or  two  into  a  live  and  eager  mis- 
sionary body. 

This  was  Christ's  method  in  his  personal 
ministry  in  the  selection  of  workers.  He  would 
not  have  followers  who  came  for  loaves  and 
fishes,  he  wanted  none  who  came  because  the 
crowd  was  with  him,  for  he  melted  that  crowd 
away  by  his  words,  hard  for  them  to  accept,  and 
he  tested  the  love  and  willingness  of  his  fol- 
lowers in  many  ways.  The  call  for  those  who 
come  gladly  and  with  willing  heart  is  always 
responded  to,  as  I  have  seen,  wherever  It  is  tried. 
Often  by  more  people  than  would  come  if 
scolded  to  come  or  importuned  on  personal 
grounds  or  sterner  motives.  Fear  is  effectual 
sometimes  in  exhorting  men  to  avoid  sin,  but  it 
is  unwise  to  appeal  to  in  urging  them  into  God's 
service.  There  is  a  joy  in  enlisting  willingly 
which  itself  is  an  element  of  povv^er,  and  it  is  a 
repudiation  of  all  we  have  said  about  the  higher 


230  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

enthusiasm  and  joy  of  the  Christian  Hfe  if  in  the 
presence  of  sinners  we  are  obhged  to  beg  and 
beseech  and  threaten  Christian  people  to  do  some 
work  for  Christ. 

It  is  still  more  shameful  if  we  are  compelled 
to  beg  for  money  to  support  world-wide  mis- 
sions. The  character  of  the  pleas  for  foreign 
missions  from  our  pulpits  which  desperately  be- 
seech the  people  not  to  give  less  than  last  year 
for  the  reputation  of  the  church,  or  which  urge 
attendance  upon  som.e  foolish  entertainment  to 
swell  the  missionary  funds,  is  enough  to  disgust 
a  thoughtful  attendant  who  is  trying  to  discover 
in  the  church  whether  love  to  God  is  real  or 
whether  those  particular  Christians  are  shams. 

This  does  not  occur  where  the  town  church 
pursues  mission  study  courses  with  abundance 
of  informing  literature,  charts,  maps,  and  led  by  a 
pastor  whose  heart  burns  for  the  world's  salva- 
tion. Where  the  Sunday-school  has  mission 
studies  regularly,  and  where  auxiliaries  of  For- 
eign and  Home  societies  are  in  operation.  Where 
the  Young  People's  society  has  its  earnest  mis- 
sionary committee  at  work  and  is  pushing  regular 
offerings  from  all  the  members. 

It  requires  very  much  agitation  and  educa- 
tion on  Missions  to  reach  every  one  of  even  a 
few  hundred  members.  It  will  only  be  accom- 
plished when  proportionate  and  systematic  giv- 
ing is  the  rule  in  the  church.  But  even  in  the 
village   and   country   church  a  large   missionary 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     231 

interest  and  enthusiasm  has  been  created  and 
maintained.  And  it  is  not  necessary  to  resort 
to  petty  schemes  for  it  nor  to  appeal  to  un- 
worthy motives. 

It  is  never  necessary  to  do  it  in  a  church 
which  possesses  any  spiritual  life  at  all  for  the 
Lord's  little  company  are  still  there  and  they  will 
respond  to  him  when  his  call  is  given  joyously 
and  in  faith  for  really  aggressive  work  for  his 
cause.  His  work  if  it  is  to  receive  his  blessing 
must  be  begun  with  the  willing  ones  for  we  have 
no  commission  from  him  to  invite  any  others. 

The  first  work  is  to  reach  every  creature  in 
the  church's  immediate  parish.  But  for  this 
home  work  there  is  needed  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
world-wide  work  to  which  the  little  church  in 
town  or  village  gives  money  and  if  possible  mis- 
sionaries. The  church  now  faces  its  duty  to 
evangelize  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  all 
the  region  round  it,  and  it  is  seriously  under- 
taken with  adequate  plans.  Ingathering  plans 
are  so  finely  matured  and  have  been  so  success- 
ful that  we  offer  them  to  the  little  band  of  will- 
ing ones  of  the  local  church. 

If  that  willing  band  consists  of  but  one  worker 
let  us  see  what  has  been  done.  In  Nevada,  Ohio, 
a  village  of  900  people  (864  by  the  last  census), 
Mr.  Henry  Kinzly,  a  modest  grocer  in  the  place, 
but  an  earnest  Christian,  was  made  superinten- 
dent of  the  Sunday-school,  one  of  two  there. 
He  found  an  enrollment  of  about  sixty  scholars, 


232  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

but  like  a  modern  business  man  he  studied  this 
new  business  for  God,  thrust  upon  him,  modest 
as  he  was  and  so  timid  it  was  almost  impossible 
for  him  to  pray  in  public.  He  read  books  and 
pamphlets  upon  methods  of  Sunday-school  organ- 
ization, attended  conventions,  day  by  day 
thought  about  the  school  and  its  possibilities. 
Almost  single-handed  he  began  every  movement 
like  house  to  house  visitation,  Adult  Bible  class 
organization,  the  Home  Department,  the  Cradle 
Roll,  Decision  Day,  and  so  on.  He  has  now  en- 
rolled, according  to  report  from  him  just  re- 
ceived, seven  hundred  and  fifty,  drawing  for 
some  on  the  country  outside;  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  conversions  have  occurred  in  the 
Sunday-school,  550  have  signed  the  temperance 
pledge,  the  saloons  have  been  driven  out  of  the 
village,  a  new  church  building  costing  $18,000, 
has  been  erected.  The  other  Sunday-school  also 
has  prospered  and  another  new  church  built  in 
the  village.  When  he  wanted  a  Home  Depart- 
ment no  one  was  ready  to  begin  it,  so  he  him- 
self went  from  house  to  house;  when  he  wanted 
new  scholars  he  sought  them  in  the  same  way. 
Now  he  has  a  beehive  of  joyous  and  enthusiastic 
helpers.  His  epigrammatic  advice  is  fine :  "  If 
any  one  should  ask  me  for  the  best  methods  to 
build  up  Sunday-schools  and  advance  church 
work,  I  would  say,  first.  Get  rid  of  saloons; 
second,  Then  get  busy." 

Marburg,    Ala.,    is    a   village    of    about    four 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     233 

hundred  people  in  which  Mr.  D.  H.  Marburg, 
has  a  Sunday-school  enrolHng  577  people.  It  is 
so  popular  that  after  having  enrolled  every  soul 
in  the  village,  crowds  for  miles  from  the  country 
round  come  to  it  and  join  it.  One  old  man  claim- 
ing to  be  114  years  old  is  a  member  of  the 
organized  adult  class.  This  school  began  with 
eighty,  two  years  before,  and  it  was  the  house  to 
house  work  under  the  leadership  of  one  man  that 
accomplished  the  result. 

In  Tennessee  is  a  rural  town  of  about  2,500 
people  with  five  churches,  four  of  which  have 
very  active  Sunday-schools.  In  one  of  them  an 
earnest  lawyer  has  gathered  a  Bible  class  of  men, 
enrolling  275  and  having  an  attendance  of  150. 
Men  are  not  impossible  to  attract  to  the  church 
when  the  earnest  workers  go  after  them.  So  in 
a  larger  town,  Ashland,  Ohio,  of  about  7,000, 
still  below  what  the  United  States  census  au- 
thorities call  a  city,  there  is  one  Sunday-school 
of  more  than  1,000  in  numbers  and  had  881  pres- 
ent one  Sunday.  There  are  now  thirty-one  Adult 
Bible  classes  there  of  large  numbers,  thoroughly 
organized  for  mutual  help.  At  the  annual 
banquet  of  men  more  than  1,000  men  dined  to- 
gether, and  these  earnest  men  voted  out  the 
saloon  in  an  election  with  325  majority.  Much 
of  this  work  is  from  the  earnest  activity  of  Mr. 
W.  D.  Stem,  a  business  man  of  Ashland. 

In  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  there  are  more  than 
twenty-five  organized  Adult  Bible  classes  started 


234  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

from  one  class  largely  the  inspiring  work  of  a 
traveling  salesman,  as  his  pastor  declares. 

The  marvelous  work  of  Mr.  Marshall  A.  Hud- 
son, the  founder  of  the  Baraca  and  Philathea 
organized  adult  classes,  is  becoming  well  known. 
He  began  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  to  organize  a 
small  Bible  class  of  men  in  1890.  Three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  men  have  been  converted  and 
joined  the  church  from  the  large  membership 
of  that  class.  Then  Mr.  Hudson  gave  up  a 
lucrative  business  and  is  devoting  himself  in 
continent  wide  travel  to  gathering  men  into  such 
church  work.  He  is  lovingly  called,  '*  the  man 
who  wants  a  million,"  a  million  men  saved 
through  the  Bible  study  work,  and  it  is  no  idle 
dream  with  him  for  already  2,700  such  classes 
are  in  operation,  and  of  men  and  women  about 
500,000,  half  his  million,  are  enrolled  "  to  do 
things,"  "to  stand  by  the  Bible  and  the  Bible 
school,"  and  ''  men  to  work  for  men."  We  could 
multiply  such  instances  to  fill  a  volume. 

How  can  the  work  of  reaching  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  local  field  be  begun  and  prosecuted  ? 
In  one  small  town  of  about  two  thousand  people, 
six  churches  were  struggling  for  existence.  The 
pastors  in  conference  gave  the  total  enrollment 
of  all  their  churches  at  about  600  and  of  Sunday- 
schools  650,  so  it  was  found  that  fully  fourteen 
hundred  people,  all  English-speaking  and  Ameri- 
can born,  were  not  reached  by  any  of  the 
churches.     Such  a  census  clears  the  way  for  a 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     235 

detailed  visitation  undertaken  by  the  churches  in 
union,  the  visitors  going  two  by  two  to  each 
home  and  ascertaining  the  reUgious  preference 
of  church  membership  of  every  person.  The 
cards  containing  this  data  are  then  distributed  to 
each  pastor  concerned  with  the  particular  ones 
and  he  has  by  this  means  his  entire  field  defined 
for  his  work.  He  follows  it  up  with  visits  to  the 
people  preferring  his  church  and  by  various 
means  lays  siege  to  win  those  homes  to  Christ. 
Every  other  pastor  takes  care  of  his  own,  and 
thus  every  soul  is  included  somewhere. 

Then  must  follow  the  personal  work  for  every 
individual  steadily  continued  until  he  is  saved. 
How  do  business  men  work?  One  great  firm 
dealing  in  food  supplies  sent  its  salesman  forty- 
eight  times  to  a  retail  grocer  before  he  received 
an  order  and  then  came  a  large  business ;  another, 
a  coal  dealer,  sent  twenty-six  times  to  a  manu- 
facturer before  the  first  favorable  response. 
When  we  have  gone  twenty-six  times  or  forty- 
eight  times  to  win  a  soul  then  we  shall  be  like 
modern  business  for  money.  But  doubtless  after 
that  Christ  would  say  go  seventy  times  seven 
times  again.  Yet  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  often 
to  win  souls.  The  experience  of  personal 
workers  is  that  very  many  come  by  the  first  in- 
vitation and  are  saved ;  many  others  after  a  few 
visits.  It  is  easier  in  fact  to  secure  men's  ac- 
ceptance of  Christ  by  an  earnest  worker  than  it 
is  to  sell  goods  to  them,  or  to  get  them  to  change 


236  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

their  political  party,  or  to  invest  largely  in  new 
enterprises.* 

The  complete  plan  for  field  work  by  the  local 
church  is  to  have  a  permanent  force  for  the  field 
assigned  to  country  districts  well  defined.  They 
visit  every  home  at  certain  times,  keep  watch  for 
any  new  family  in  their  district,  call  upon  them 
at  once,  and  bring  systematic  influences  to  bear 
upon  them  to  become  Christians.  One  church 
has  so  wonderful  a  field  organization  of  this  kind 
in  a  new  section  of  a  city  that  twenty  new 
scholars  come  to  its  school  on  an  average  every 
Sunday.  Another  increased  its  school  by  such  a 
force  from  two  hundred  to  eleven  hundred  in  a 
few  years. 

In  all  this  church  work  there  is  loving  study 
of  individuals  in  the  gospel  estimate  of  the  value 
of  one  soul.  Planning  in  all  possible  ways  to 
reach  him  by  this  or  that  person,  by  this  and 
that  influence,  and  by  various  meetings  in  which 
he  might  become  interested.  How  vastly  dif- 
ferent is  this  Christlike  concern  for  individuals 
from  the  meddlesome  prying  into  his  affairs  in 
the  days  of  gossip.  When  the  local  church  be- 
comes fully  organized  there  will  be  many  points 
of  contact  with  individuals.  With  a  Young  Peo- 
ple's society,  a  Brotherhood,  a  Ladies'  Mission 
Band,  a^Home  Department,  the  Cradle  Roll  for 
the  baby  of  the  family,  the  organized  adult  class 

*  Personal  testimony  of  many  workers  in  Sunday-school 
Religious  Canvasses. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     237 

which  is  so  popular,  some  literary  society  of  the 
village  or  town  church,  much  wise  social  work, 
and  so  on,  all  of  which  is  practicable  in  the  town 
and  larger  villages,  and  is  in  operation  in  some 
of  them.  A  modern  organization  of  the  Sunday- 
school  is  the  most  powerful  aid  to  the  field 
workers  for  the  local  church. 

There  are  pastors  who  have  organized  their 
parish  visitation  on  the  field  force,  making  parish 
visits  definite  in  purpose  instead  of  merely  social, 
and  deeply  spiritual  in  results.  A  keen  business 
man  discussing  the  possibilities  of  such  a  plan 
said,  "  I  would  give  large  wages  to  have  such  a 
body  of  solicitors  for  strictly  business  purposes." 
He  knew  very  well  that  the  splendid  men  and 
women  voluntarily  doing  district  work  could  not 
be  hired  for  any  money  he  could  afTord  to  pay 
them.  The  church  has  their  services  without 
pay  and  the  church  everywhere  that  is  willing  to 
persevere  in  organizing  such  a  work  can  secure 
such  people  gladly  to  undertake  it. 

The  Boys'  Messenger  Corps  is  another  field 
force,  following  up  the  district  workers  with  dis- 
tribution of  church  and  Sunday-school  litera- 
ture, tracts,  and  church  announcements;  they  are 
used  to  carry  flowers  to  the  sick ;  letters  to  the 
people,  the  absentees,  and  to  strangers.  Chris- 
tian boys  are  delighted  to  do  such  work,  and 
designated  by  a  metal  or  ribbon  badge,  they  are 
tireless  parish  workers. 

The  spread  of  church  federation  for  amicable 


238  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

co-operation  between  local  congregations  in  their 
field  comes  to  us  opportunely.  There  may  be 
secured  a  full  understanding  of  what  each 
church  is  doing,  a  clear  defining  of  each 
church's  field,  and  no  danger  of  accusations  of 
proselyting.  And  next  to  obnoxious  proselyting 
for  loss  of  souls  is  the  fear  of  being  called  a 
proselyter,  and  thus  failing  to  visit  families 
hastily  assumed  to  belong  to  another  church,  but 
which  in  turn  are  avoided  by  that  pastor  for  a 
similar  fear,  and  thus  they  are  neglected  by  all. 
But  a  primary  investigation  by  all  churches  of 
the  whole  town  as  to  religious  inclinations  and 
the  data  given  to  each  church  covers  the  whole 
field  perfectly.  The  visitors  in  the  general  can- 
vass become  the  visitors  for  their  respective 
churches  for  still  closer  personal  spiritual  effort. 

Thus  the  local  church  will  thoroughly  cover 
its  immediate  field  reaching  every  creature 
while  having  a  vision  of  the  whole  world  field 
and  every  member  a  sense  of  his  responsibiHty 
for  both. 

*'  Be  strong! 
We  are  not  here  to  play — to  dream,  to  drift, 
We  have  hard  work  to  do  and  loads  to  lift, 
Shun  not  the  struggle — face  it ! 

It  is  God's  gift." 

M.  D.  Babcock. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EVERY    MEMBER    AT    WORK    WITH    ALL 
HIS     TALENTS. 

The  parable  of  the  talents  teaches  every  man's 
responsibility  to  God  for  every  one  he  possesses. 
It  is  keen  knowledge  of  human  nature  that  de- 
scribes the  man  with  one  talent  as  the  person  who 
fails  to  use  it.  The  one  talent  man,  or  those  who 
think  they  have  only  one,  are  the  inactive  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  But  Jesus  did  not  attempt  to 
teach  every  truth  about  talents  in  one  parable. 
He  met  a  rich  young  ruler  with  probably  five 
talents  who  went  away  and  buried  them  all.  He 
saw  a  woman  in  the  temple  who  had  the  least 
ability  in  money-giving  and  yet  used  it  all  for 
God. 

Who  is  to  impress  upon  the  individuals  their 
duty  concerning  all  the  ability  they  have  if  the 
church  does  not?  And  how  can  the  church  ef- 
fectively urge  the  use  of  talents  when  she  neg- 
lects to  provide  the  larger  opportunities  ?  Especi- 
ally those  which  the  New  Testament  church  in- 
volves, for  it  is  just  as  clearly  the  obligation  of 
239 


240  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

the  whole  church  to  reach  out  to  the  world's 
varied  needs  as  it  is  for  a  man  to  use  all  his  vari- 
ous talents.  Professor  Hugh  Black  says :  **  The 
church  is  seen  to  be  broader  than  its  common  defi- 
nition. Time  was  when  the  church  organization 
covered  all  life  and  was  responsible  for  education, 
for  the  care  of  the  poor,  for  all  charitable  and 
philanthropic  work.  It  was  even  the  dictator 
about  all  social  affairs  and  customs;  it  settled 
what  you  could  wear,  when  to  work  and  play, 
when  to  go  to  bed.  The  time  may  be  again  when 
the  church  shall  control  life  more  than  ever,  when 
the  conception  is  broadened  to  mean  the  higher 
social  organization  of  life,  the  ideal,  the  universal 
brotherhood.  The  church  no  longer  educates, 
cares  for  the  poor,  nor  does  philanthropic  work. 
But  the  church  should  now  supply  inspiration  for 
all  social  activities." 

So  the  broader  work  of  the  church  and  the  full 
use  of  her  members'  varied  abilities  complement 
each  other.  Here  are  men,  to  become  definite, 
who  have  gifts  of  teaching,  of  special  sympathy 
to  comfort,  of  ability  to  clear  away  intellectual 
difficulties,  of  evangelistic  appeal,  of  creating 
enthusiasms  for  hard  struggles,  of  developing 
organization  ;  gifts  of  preaching,  teaching,  admin- 
istration, and  leadership,  and  here  is  the  suffering 
world  needing  just  every  one  of  these  lives  of 
endeavor.  The  field  for  the  work  is  limitless, 
individual  effort  undirected  and  unorganized  is 
exceedingly  wasteful  and  ineffective.    And  indi- 


THE  CHUR CH  IN  R URAL  CHRIS TIANIZING.     2  4 1 

vidual  effort  seldom  begins  spontaneously  but 
chiefly  by  the  inspiration  of  a  powerful  associ- 
ation. 

So  it  becomes  a  question  whether  the  church 
earnestly  exhorting  individuals  to  use  their  tal- 
ents and  all  of  them,  really  desires  to  have  it 
done  in  the  only  way  that  ages  of  experience  have 
shown  it  is  practicable.  Will  the  church  diversify 
and  extend  her  work  so  that  all  her  people  can 
find  full  activity  in  God's  service? 

In  many  country  churches  a  little  group  of  men 
hold  all  the  offices.  Not  often  by  their  own 
choice  or  manipulation,  but  because  they  are 
recognized  as  the  persons  best  fitted  for  the  offices 
and  the  church  is  doing  nothing  to  train  others. 
We  know  men  who  occupy  three,  or  four,  in  a 
few  cases,  six  important  official  positions  in  the 
church.  There  are  men  who  are  President  of  the 
Trustees,  Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school, 
Ruling  Elder,  President  of  the  Brotherhood,  and 
of  the  choir  in  a  Presbyterian  church ;  one  was 
Trustee,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Stewards,  a 
Sunday-school  teacher.  President  of  the  Young 
People's  Society,  leader  of  the  choir,  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  Social  Union  in  a  Methodist  church, 
and  might  have  been  President  of  the  Ladies' 
Aid  Society,  if  he  had  not  been  a  man ;  another, 
a  local  preacher,  Trustee,  class  leader,  teacher  in 
the  Sunday-school,  President  of  the  Brotherhood, 
and  the  Ushers*  Association.  It  is  very  common 
for  a  capable  man  in  a  country  church  to  be 


242 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


forced  into  three  or  four  offices  all  of  great  im- 
portance, and  any  one  of  which  would  take  all 
the  spare  time  of  a  man  of  other  business  during 
the  day.  The  man  of  many  such  offices  is  not 
the  man  of  leisure,  nor  a  man  who  usually  can 
command  even  clerical  assistance,  but  very  busy 
men  who  have  only  evenings  and  Sunday  to  give 
service  to  the  church. 

The  inevitable  consequence  is  that  they  lose,  if 
they  ever  possessed,  any  worthy  sense  of  the  op- 
portunity or  responsibility  of  these  positions  of 
trust  and  power  in  Christ's  Kingdom.  The  Sun- 
day-school superintendent  who  is  also  Treasurer 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  therefore  bur- 
dened with  its  financial  cares,  and  leader  of  the 
choir  with  all  the  fusses  and  vexations  of  that, 
thinks  little  or  nothing  between  Sundays  of  the 
Sunday-school.  He  comes  to  the  school  with  no 
definite  program  for  it,  nor  any  study  of  methods 
and  organization,  if  even  he  has  looked  at  the 
current  lesson.  His  vision  of  the  Sunday-school 
opportunity  is  limited  to  precedents  of  forty 
years  ago  and  to  holding  the  school  at  the  point 
he  received  it  from  his  predecessor. 

As  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  he 
might  become  a  specialist  in  church  finance  and 
in  the  Christian  principles  of  giving,  if  he  could 
give  full  attention  to  that  office.  He  might  even 
in  the  village  develop  a  system  of  offerings  that 
would  furnish  the  church  a  liberal  support.  But 
he  is  pulled  right  and  left  now  by  exigencies  in 


THE  CHUR  CH  IN  R  URAL  CHRIS  TIA  N I  ZING.    2  43 

the  Sunday-school  requiring  a  new  teacher  at 
once  for  a  troublesome  class,  and  then  by  cranki- 
ness in  the  choir.  In  the  choir  he  cannot  do  good 
work  because  his  other  offices  divide  his  attention 
and  the  little  spare  time  he  has  at  command. 
The  most  he  can  do  is  to  bear  meekly  the  honors 
of  these  great  opportunities  and  stand  in  the  way 
of  somebody  else  doing  good  modern  work. 

In  all  these  churches  there  are  many  men  com- 
ing and  going  with  nothing  definite  to  do.  They 
would  not  immediately  grace  these  offices,  or 
seem  to  grace  them,  as  well  as  the  much-officed 
incumbent.  But  it  would  be  a  blessing  to  them 
and  in  a  short  time  to  the  church  to  elect  them 
and  give  them  training.  If  they  are  one-third 
equal  to  the  other  man  they  might  possibly  man- 
age to  fill  as  well  one  of  the  three  offices  the 
other  man  holds.  They  will  in  many  cases  de- 
velop abilities  surprising  themselves  and  the 
church.  And  with  a  division  of  responsibility 
each  man  could  assume  more  for  each  office, 
become  somewhat  of  a  specialist,  and  thus 
strengthen  the  church  where  now  she  is  lament- 
ably weak,  in  the  sense  of  personal  opportunity 
and  responsibility  her  officers  feel  in  the  import- 
ant places  they  hold  but  do  not  fill. 

One  earnest  man  was  elected  Sunday-school 
superintendent  when  he  was  holding  several 
other  offices  in  the  church,  but  he  made  it  the 
condition  of  his  acceptance  that  he  should  be  re- 
lieved  of   every   other   office.      He   startled   his 


244  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

brethren,  they  in  many  offices,  by  saying  that  in 
his  opinion  the  Sunday-school  superintendency 
was  so  important  that  he  must  give  all  his  time 
and  attention  to  it.  He  was  accordingly  released 
and  has  stood  ever  since  in  a  unique  position  as 
the  Sunday-school  superintendent  and  strongly 
that.  In  the  prayer-meeting  he  prays  and  talks 
about  the  school,  when  his  friends  meet  him  it  is 
natural  to  inquire  about  it,  and  in  every  move- 
ment of  the  church  he  stands  for  the  Sunday- 
school  with  impressiveness.  He  now  attends 
conventions,  gives  time  to  the  study  of  methods, 
and  is  the  Sunday-school  enthusiast  there! 

"  One  man  one  office  "  should  be  the  rule  of 
the  ordinary  church,  except  in  adding  merely 
nominal  positions.  Then  study  all  the  individual 
members  of  the  church  to  measure  their  abilities. 
Take  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  inventory  of 
resources.  And  of  possibilities  also  by  the  train- 
ing the  church  could  give  of  young  people.  It 
will  surprise  the  leaders  how  many  there  are  un- 
employed. It  often  happens  that  the  man  himself 
of  real  abilities  is  unaware  of  them,  and  some  of 
the  most  successful  leaders  have  come  to  their 
powers  slowly.  There  is  no  more  practical  mes- 
sage to  troubled  pastors  than  the  word  of  Christ, 
"  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that 
he  would  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest." 
Christ  himself  prayed  a  whole  night  before  he 
chose  the  twelve  apostles.  This  prayer  to  him  is 
always  answered  by  pointing  out  in  some  way 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING,     245 

capable  workers,  the  divinely  chosen  and  sent 
worker  he  then  will  become. 

Fundamentally,  the  greatest  work  the  church 
can  do  is  to  discover  workers,  to  train  them,  and 
to  place  them.  It  is  better  to  train  ten  men  to 
do  the  work  the  pastor  or  a  few  leaders  are  doing, 
than  each  to  try  to  spread  himself  over  the  places 
of  ten  men.  Yet  many  pastors  are  gathering  to 
themselves  office  after  office  in  the  little  church 
which  other  people  should  be  trained  by  him  to 
fill.  He  is  asking  anxiously,  "  What  can  I  do  for 
the  men  of  my  church?  what  can  I  do  to  help 
young  men?"  when  the  men  do  not  want  any- 
thing more  done  for  them,  as  if  they  were  chil- 
dren, but  most  earnestly  want  to  do  something 
for  the  church. 

The  wise  pastor  will  change  his  work  to  be 
largely  training  men  for  varied  service,  and  plac- 
ing them.  He  can  do  twenty  times  the  work  for 
Christ  in  that  way  and  broaden  and  perpetuate 
the  work. 

Magnify  the  importance  of  every  church  office 
until  men  are  afraid  lightly  to  assume  it.  By  the 
literature  of  Christian  methods,  now  so  abundant 
for  every  position,  show  the  vast  opportunities 
for  good  these  places  afford.  Then  with  much 
prayer  seek  for  the  man  or  the  woman  of  special 
promise  or  ability  for  it. 

Every  member  of  the  church  should  be  at 
work  and  every  one  using  all  his  talents.  The 
church  is  a  force  of  sowers,  tillers,  and  reapers; 


246  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

it  is  an  army  of  soldiers  against  evil  in  which 
every  man  is  to  be  drilled  and  assigned ;  all  are 
called  to  be  witnesses  for  Christ  and  spread  the 
invitation  to  be  saved.  Dr.  Parkhurst  says,  "  I 
have  ceased  to  call  this  church  my  field,  it  is  my 
force."  This  is  the  only  position  she  can  rightly 
hold  in  the  presence  of  her  Lord  who  has  per- 
sonally withdrawn  from  the  earth  and  put  her 
into  his  place  to  reach  men.  She  is  his  body  to 
express  his  feelings  toward  men,  to  speak  to 
them,  and  to  touch  them  with  healing  and  saving 
for  him.  He  wants  no  superfluous  members  on 
his  living  body,  no  paralyzed  limbs  nor  even 
fingers. 

For  practical  beginning  let  the  earnest  pastor 
call  a  meeting  of  those  desiring  to  give  them- 
selves more  fully  to  Christ's  work.  Call  for  those 
who  are  willing,  and  accept  gladly  those  whom 
the  Spirit  moves  to  come  after  the  earnest  appeal, 
and  organize  them  into  a  Personal  Workers' 
Band.  No  m.atter  though  the  prominent  mem- 
bers have  not  responded  and  those  who  have  are 
the  least  known.  If  you  have  joyously  in  faith 
given  Christ's  call  he  has  impressed  it  upon  his 
willing  ones  and  you  have  them.  Select  a  list  of 
persons  to  be  prayed  for  and  sought  to  become 
Christians.  Let  the  Personal  Workers'  Band  in- 
dividually assume  the  names  they  will  seek.  After 
a  few  days  or  a  week  have  reports  of  what  they 
have  done  and  the  results.  Discuss  with  them 
the  successes,   failures,  difficulties  and  start  on 


THE  CHUR  CH  IN  R  URA L  CHRIS TIA  NIZING.     247 

another  effort.  Let  them  bring  others  who  desire 
to  join  as  personal  workers. 

Keep  up  this  meeting  weekly  or  oftener  and 
study  the  art  of  Christian  conversation,  the  prin- 
ciples of  successful  approach  to  men  spiritually, 
and  the  successes  and  failures  of  your  band. 
There  cannot  possibly  be  a  meeting  so  important 
to  continue  as  this,  and  none  upon  which  the 
Saviour  who  died  for  men  will  look  with  such 
blessing  and  power.  It  will  lead  to  the  largest 
results  in  any  church  which  could  be  gotten  in 
that  church  in  any  way  in  a  year,  or  a  series  of 
years.  A  whole  church  has  been  powerfully 
stirred  by  it  in  a  year. 

The  Personal  Workers'  Band  are  the  company 
of  Apostles  in  the  local  church.  They  were, 
with  the  rest,  only  disciples,  weak  and  faltering, 
with  no  confidence  in  their  ability  to  win  men 
to  Christ.  So  were  the  twelve  and  the  rest  of  the 
upper  room  company  before  the  day  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then  see  them!  See 
Peter  who  trembled  before  a  young  maid  now 
bold  before  a  whole  city,  and  winning  thousands. 
And  behold  Stephen  and  Paul  and  the  rest  before 
and  after  they  were  filled  with  power  by  the 
Spirit.  One  company  of  such  workers  brought 
three  hundred  and  fifty  to  Christ,  one  man  more 
than  a  hundred,  another  seventy-five.  A  young 
man  completely  helpless  in  bed  by  rheumatic 
arthritis  which  had  stiffened  every  joint,  but  one 
wrist  and  a  little  motion  in  his  neck,  was  so 


248  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

eager  to  speak  for  Christ  to  his  visitors  that  he 
had  many  notable  cases  of  conversion  in  that 
strange  sick  room. 

This  work  of  winning  men  to  Christ  by  the  per- 
sonal effort  of  the  members  of  the  church  is  the 
central  work  of  the  church.  Other  lines  of  help- 
fulness to  men  belong  to  the  church  unquestion- 
ably and  must  be  added.  There  are  certain 
features  of  the  Institutional  church  practical  and 
contributory  to  spiritual  results  in  many  country 
districts.  But  the  church  may  do  every  other 
work  of  the  most  diversified  Institutional  organ- 
ization, and  if  it  fails  to  be  chiefly  or  most  largely 
for  spiritual  results  it  is  not  a  church  of  Christ. 
The  Institutional  has  ever  drawn  men  away  from 
Christ  when  the  "  institutions  "  were  the  domi- 
nant features,  and  the  spiritual  center  was  weak. 
There  is  no  better  way  to  guard  this  peril  than 
by  the  Personal  Workers  gradually  extending 
into  the  whole  church. 

Yet  while  man  is  a  soul  in  a  body  with  a  mind, 
a  heart,  beauty-loving  eyes,  music-loving  ears, 
a  body  subject  to  disease  or  capable  of  splendid 
powers  there  will  be  required  many  lines  of  work 
fully  to  save  him.  Christ  found  it  so  in  his 
personal  ministry,  and  those  who  study  Christ's 
breadth  of  work  and  his  methods  are  moved  to 
many-sided  church  enterprises.  These  will  be 
added  as  the  church  like  a  spiritual  body  or  a 
great  tree  becomes  filled  with  life  and  gushes  out 
new  branches  of  effort  in  natural  development. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    249 

The  men  vv'ho  are  needed  to  prosecute  these  new 
movements  are  gathered  into  the  church  by  the 
same  spirit. 

One  church,  notable  for  having  nearly  every 
member  a  worker,  presents  a  card  to  every  per- 
son who  joins  having  nine  distinct  lines  of  work 
indicated.  The  new  member  may  choose  one  or 
two  of  the  lines  of  work,  and  then  a  regular 
church  officer  charged  with  that  duty  inducts  the 
new  member  into  the  work  he  or  she  has  chosen. 

"  Impracticable  in  my  church !  "  So  it  may 
be  but  the  burden  of  proof  is  upon  that  pastor 
to  show  it  is  impracticable.  "  How  ? "  How, 
but  by  a  fair  trial.  It  is  the  command  of  the 
Head  of  the  church  to  reach  every  creature  and 
for  every  member  to  work  with  all  his  talents. 
There  must  be  the  loyal  soldier's  obedience  if  he 
dies  trying  to  carry  out  the  command.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  was  asked,  "  Do  you  think  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  church  to  push  foreign  mis- 
sions ? "  The  grim  old  veteran  said  sharply, 
"  Look  to  your  orders,  sir !  What  does  Christ 
command  ? "  It  is  queer  anachronism  in  the 
church,  far  behind  our  bold  business  and  scientific 
times,  to  say  that  anything  is  impossible,  or  im- 
practicable. The  inventor  will  not  say  the  word. 
The  business  man  never  utters  it  of  any  new 
enterprise,  the  physician  will  not  despair  before 
any  human  ailment,  the  scientist  cannot  define 
any  region  of  human  effort  as  impossible.  Christ 
above  all  taught  us  never  to  say  it  of  anything 


250  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

in  which  God  was  called  upon  to  help.  Die  or 
let  the  church  die  in  the  heroic  struggle  to  do  the 
work  for  which  alone  Christ  organized  his 
Church.  There  is  evidence  enough  that  churches 
die  for  failure  thus  to  obey  Christ,  but  none 
as  yet  upon  which  as  a  church  it  could  be  said, 
Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord. 

In  the  new  era  of  the  country  with  electric 
cars  and  the  rest  this  extension  of  spiritual  life 
and  energy  to  every  member  of  the  church  be- 
comes even  more  important.  Many  of  the  dis- 
couraging difficulties  of  former  times  are  passing 
even  now  in  farming  regions,  and  still  more  in 
towns,  and  in  suburbs.  There  are  now  rural 
churches  where  the  opportunity  for  spiritual  ex- 
pansion within  is  greater  than  in  many  city 
churches.  The  prospects  are  aglow  with  wonder- 
ful promise.  The  old  men  dream  dreams  as  the 
Holy  Spirit  comes  upon  them  and  the  young  men 
see  visions.  And  what  vision  of  the  Church  can 
a  young  man  in  our  day  see  but  that  she  is  at 
work  with  all  modern  enterprise,  thorough  busi- 
ness organization  and  every  member  according 
to  John  Wesley's  rule,  "  Doing  all  the  good  he 
can,  by  all  the  means  he  can,  in  all  the  ways  he 
can,  in  all  the  places,  at  all  times,  to  all  the 
people  he  can,  and  as  long  as  ever  he  can."  And 
when  he  has  done  all  this  he  must  say  with  that 
wonderful  worker-poetess,  Mrs.  Browning,  "  I 
have  not  used  half  the  powers  God  has  given 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

TO  PERFECT  EVERY  MAN  IN  ALL  HIS  NATURE. 

The  God  of  nature,  of  man's  wonderful  and 
complex  nature,  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  the 
Christ.  He  himself  did  a  very  broad  work  for 
the  people  of  Galilee  and  Judea  in  his  personal 
minstry  and  a  work  of  which  he  declares  repeat- 
edly, in  many  forms  of  utterance,  that  he  began 
what  his  believers  are  to  do  more  largely.  One 
typical  expression  will  suffice,  surely :  "  He  that 
believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do 
also;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do; 
because  I  go  unto  my  Father." 

Among  his  personal  works  were  the  healing  of 
the  sick,  feeding  the  hungry,  giving  a  great  haul 
of  fish  to  a  man  for  the  use  of  his  boat,  adding 
provisions  to  a  wedding  feast,  expediting  a  vessel 
in  its  voyage  across  the  lake,  acting  Temple  guard 
for  its  purifying,  rescuing  a  man  from  drowning, 
enforcing  the  law  respecting  swine;  teaching 
ethics,  courtesy,  and  business  shrewdness ;  and  all 
the  time  chiefly  engaged  in  saving  men  from  sin. 
251 


252  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

His  apostles  and  workers  were  to  do  these 
things  more  largely  than  was  possible  to  him  by 
his  limited  time  and  may  we  not  freely  add,  in 
forms  more  permanently  helpful  to  men  and  to 
civilization.  For  instance,  to  heal  the  sick  by 
direct  miracle  is  marvelous  and  then,  in  more 
cases  than  now,  was  the  only  way  it  could  be 
done.  In  many  cases  it  is  yet  the  only  way  if 
God  wills  they  shall  be  healed.  Who  can  gainsay 
the  clear  evidence  that  he  does  yet  so  heal  many? 
But  how  much  more  wonderful  is  the  healing  of 
a  thousand  by  the  regular  scientific  ways  in  our 
time  for  one  by  miracle.  Who  again  can  ques- 
tion that  this  is  also  God's  way,  for  are  not 
scientific  laws  his  laws? 

He  expedited  the  voyage  by  a  miracle.  We 
do  it  by  steam,  by  the  turbine  engine  and  quad- 
ruple expansion  of  steam.  It  is  wonderful  and 
greater.  Let  us  not  bring  down  the  miraculous 
by  denying  it,  but  bring  up  the  regular  and  the 
ordinary  to  greater  results  than  the  miraculous 
ever  accomplished. 

What,  then,  is  the  scope  of  church  work 
Christ  designated  for  his  church?  How  much 
of  this  work  can  be  done  or  is  needed  to  be  done 
in  country  places? 

I.  All  the  churches  now  recognize  many  duties 
to  their  people  physically.  They  are  under  ob- 
ligation to  take  tender  care  of  the  aged  and  the 
poor ;  to  visit  and  as  far  as  possible  help  the  sick ; 
to  cultivate  sympathy  for  the  unemployed  and 


THE  CHUR  CH  IN  RURAL  CHRIS  TIA  N I  ZING.    253 

the  unfortunate  in  business,  and  to  teach  the 
gospel  of  a  pure  and  sound  body.  Churches 
in  towns  and  in  some  suburbs  need  especially 
to  look  after  the  poor,  the  widow  and  the  orphan, 
and  no  less  the  motherless  children.  Home  find- 
ing for  the  orphan  may  be  done  by  the  local 
church,  some  ladies'  society  making  it  their 
special  line  of  Christlike  work. 

Many  country  churches  go  farther  and  feel  it 
their  duty  to  influence  state  and  local  action  on 
the  improvement  of  civic  and  industrial  condi- 
tions, and  by  federated  action  with  other  churches 
and  with  good  people  to  provide  public  gymna- 
siums, and  to  co-operate  with  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  in  physical  culture.  Where 
such  opportunities  are  provided  by  other  agencies 
the  church  gives  inspiration  and  co-operation. 
But  in  many  places  the  church  is  the  only  body  to 
lead  in  such  movements.  The  gospel  on  the 
physical  nature  is  the  loftiest  thought  ever  enter- 
tained about  the  human  body — that  it  is  the  temple 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  in  it  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  is  re-incarnated  for  his  continued  work  to 
save  man. 

To  secure  full  control  of  the  body  for  Christ's 
work  is  the  real  philosophy  of  fasting  from  food. 
It  is  a  grave  wrong  to  young  Christians  not 
clearly  to  teach  the  blessings  of  such  intermis- 
sion of  meals,  and  temperate  eating  at  all  times. 
And  this  with  protracted  seasons  of  communion 


254  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

with  God,  not  on  public  of  general  occasions, 
or  at  set  times,  but  as  between  every  soul  and 
God.  The  true  church  will  also  teach  this  truth 
of  Christ  that  greater  spiritual  power  comes  only 
when  every  whim  of  appetite  and  the  slightest 
bondage  of  physical  desires  is  broken.  The  first 
effort  at  fasting  will  seem  harmful  because  it 
makes  more  insistent  all  these  appetites  and  dis- 
turbs prayer,  but  after  the  body  is  completely 
under,  or  in  perfect  control,  meals  are  omitted 
without  consciousness  of  them  and  the  long  con- 
tinued prayer  and  meditation  is  realized  then  in 
all  joy  and  power. 

2.  What  can  the  country  church  do  socially? 
She  can  revive  true  Christian  hospitality  by 
teaching  its  blessed  privileges,  and  by  means  of 
conventions,  Sunday-school  Institutes,  and  other 
Christian  gatherings  give  opportunity  for  its  ex- 
ercise. The  pastor  will  covet  for  his  people  the 
close  fellowship  which  such  church  gatherings 
give  with  earnest  Christian  workers.  There 
should  be  clear  thinking  upon  hospitality,  not  the 
disdainful  shrug  of  fashionable  shoulders  that  it 
is  an  antiquated  thing,  or  an  Oriental  custom. 
There  is  no  substitute  for  it  in  human  society, 
as  our  sneering  wealthy  objector  himself  and  her- 
self prove  by  making  large  use  of  it  for  their 
exclusive  set  in  most  expensive,  long-drawn-out, 
and  frequent  dinners.  All  winter  long  in  large 
cities,  there  are  whirls  of  suppers,  dinners,  break- 
fasts (at  noon  or  later)   with  princely  extra va- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R  URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     255 

gance.  Objections  from  such  quarters  to  enter- 
taining God's  people  are  curious  illustrations  of 
straining  out  gnats  and  easily  swallowing  camels. 
It  is  not  to  save  money  for  the  guests,  not  that 
they  want  it,  but  as  a  privilege  for  promoting 
spiritual  life  that  hospitality  in  connection  with 
church  meetings  holds  exalted  place.  It  makes 
personal  influence  most  powerful  and  brings 
heart  to  heart  most  sweetly. 

Still  further  of  the  same  kind,  the  Christian 
homes  of  the  well-to-do  in  the  suburb,  town,  or 
village  can  occasionally  invite  groups  of  church 
workers  of  the  local  church  to  their  hospitality 
in  connection  with  the  development  of  their  plans 
for  the  church.  Definite  movements  for  new 
work  are  thus  started  by  our  English  cousins  at 
"  breakfasts,"  by  noble  laymen  of  our  country, 
like  Mr.  W.  N.  Hartshorn  of  Boston  notably,  and 
others,  inviting  men  and  women  to  their  homes 
for  several  days  at  a  time  in  the  interest  of  some 
Christian  enterprise. 

If  possible  the  town  or  village  church  should 
keep  "  open  house  "  every  night.  A  social  room 
should  be  provided,  or  part  of  the  room  set  off 
for  the  purpose,  books  and  magazines  on  hand  for 
those  who  desire  to  read,  but  the  freedom  of  social 
conversation  permitted  at  one  end  of  the  room,  or 
in  another  room.  Many  young  people  do  not 
care  to  read  all  the  evening  and  conversation  is 
helpful  under  wise  supervision. 

3.  For    man    intellectually    the    duty    of    the 


256  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

church  has  greatly  changed  with  the  wonderful 
growth  of  schools  and  colleges  in  every  part  of 
the  land.  But  there  is  obligation  to  the  young 
people  just  from  college  or  high  school  graduates. 
Their  peril  upon  entering  business  or  a  profes- 
sion is  to  drop  all  strenuous  study  and  fall  into 
slipshod  habits  of  reading  and  thinking.  There 
are  churches  in  our  towns,  which  with  fine  good 
sense,  provide  just  enough  intellectual  activity  in 
the  church  to  keep  these  cultured  minds  on  the 
high  plane  of  former  college  life.  In  some  towns 
the  Chautauqua  Circle  maintains  the  college  spirit 
and  thinking,  in  others  a  high  grade  lecture 
course  helps,  and  in  still  others  a  local  debating 
society.  These  churches  have  their  reward  in 
the  able  service  of  such  young  men. 

Pastors  are  steadily  becoming  a  more  learned 
body  of  men  and  do  not  need  to  have  pointed  out 
to  them  the  brainy  young  men  who  come  to 
church.  They  do  not  come  for  lectures  in  pre- 
tentious scholarship  but  to  have  the  sermon  up  to 
best  standards  intellectually  yet  warm  in  spiritual 
life.  The  men  who  are  popular  with  "  the  fel- 
lows "  as  preachers  are  those  of  deepest  spir- 
ituality and  simplicity  but,  of  course,  of  finest  in- 
tellectual breadth  and  grasp. 

4.  Esthetically  the  influence  of  Jesus  on  the 
world  has  been  amazing.  Famous  masters  in 
painting  and  music  have  been  inspired  to  their 
masterpieces  by  him.  Jesus  has  brought  about 
a  sublime  era  in  art  and  music,  and  all  that  realm 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     257 

of  the  beautiful  to  which  so  many  now  give  their 
lives.  In  America  it  is  plain  we  are  approaching 
our  golden  age  of  art.  Children  in  country 
schools  are  learning  drawing  and  music,  some  of 
the  young  people  are  attending  conservatories 
and  art  schools.  The  church  must  by  all  means 
to  some  extent  satisfy  their  love  of  the  beautiful, 
it  is  the  spirit  of  Jesus  to  do  it,  or  lose  her  choice 
young  people,  and  more  and  more  some  older 
people  of  such  tastes. 

There  is  surely  no  justification  for  the  unsightly 
church  building  and  its  shabby  surroundings.  I 
have  seen  a  piece  of  wall  paper  torn  and  hang- 
ing at  loose  ends  for  months  in  a  country  church, 
a  large  patch  of  the  plastering  down  in  another 
for  a  long  time,  shutters  broken  off  and  hanging 
by  one  hinge,  a  gate  that  stubbornly  stuck  in 
the  mud  half  way  open ;  other  churches  long 
crying  for  paint,  or  for  repairing.  Old  men 
who  are  trustees  may  never  have  had  esthetic 
training  or  environment,  and  are  insensible  to 
the  disgust  and  pain  some  of  the  children  feel  in 
attending  such  churches.  And  what  about  edu- 
cated pastors  from  the  larger  towns  or  cities  who 
have  no  eyes  for  such  dishonor  of  God's  house? 
Upon  fathers  and  mothers  there,  with  richer  op- 
portunities than  the  aged  trustees,  is  laid  the  duty 
of  beautifying  the  church.  Very  much  may  be 
done  at  small  expense  but  no  expense  is  too  great 
for  the  cure  of  souls,  as  the  doctor  would  say,  no 


258  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

expense  is  too  great  for  hospitals  which  are  to 
heal  bodies. 

In  the  country  how  easy  and  inexpensive  will 
be  the  grading  of  the  church  lawn.  The  planting 
of  trees  and  flowers,  the  fresh  paint  outside,  the 
tasteful  pictures  in  the  Sunday-school  room,  and 
the  general  beautifying  of  the  church.  Let  us  be 
sure  that  everything  that  would  offend  the  ar- 
tistic sense  of  the  boy  or  girl  is  removed,  and  we 
shall  the  more  teach  that  there  is  beauty  in  holi- 
ness. 

The  singing  in  public  worship  and  in  the  Sun- 
day-school is  receiving  more  attention  in  towns 
and  villages.  We  have  elsewhere  urged  the  vil- 
lage choral  society,  but  here  also  the  church  has 
its  great  opportunity.  There  are  village  churches 
in  England  with  wonderful  singing  by  the  con- 
gregation. It  is  an  experience  for  a  lifetime  to 
visit  them.  The  teaching  of  singing  in  the  public 
schools  and  the  larger  number  everywhere  re- 
ceiving private  instruction  gives  many  a  small 
church  the  nucleus  of  trained  voices  for  a  chorus. 
Every  winter's  program  of  church  work  should 
include  the  singing-school  for  a  term  of  instruc- 
tion by  the  best  teacher  available.  Some  years 
ago  in  many  parts  of  the  country  itinerant  singing 
teachers  had  their  round  of  five  or  six  churches 
every  week  in  different  towns.  The  whole 
church  was  taught  congregational  singing,  and 
what  power  came  to  the  special  meetings!  The 
gospel   in   song  is  of  mighty  power  and   it  is 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     259 

passing  strange  that  churches  will  be  content 
even  for  a  month  with  lifeless,  incorrect,  and  un- 
helpful singing. 

The  broader  Christlike  work  is  actually  done 
by  some  village  congregations.  A  church  in  a 
little  village  in  a  neighboring  state  has  a  fine 
parish  house  with  many  lines  of  helpfulness,  the 
popular  resort  every  night  of  young  and  old. 
The  church  and  Sunday-school  are  led  in  all 
modern  methods  and  with  spiritual  power.* 

5.  Moral  culture  must  be  undertaken  specifi- 
cally if  it  is  to  be  adequate  in  these  days.  There 
is  confusion  as  to  duties  in  business  life,  in  Sab- 
bath keeping,  in  popular  amusements,  in  personal, 
civic,  and  social  reforms.  The  importance  of  a 
tender  and  intelligent  conscience  is  fundamental, 
but  such  a  conscience  is  the  result  of  careful 
teaching,  personal  thought  upon  great  questions, 
and  unflinching  obedience  to  the  right  as  it  ap- 
pears. What  is  the  church  doing  for  the  moral 
culture  of  its  people?  What  means  or  meetings 
has  she  for  the  training  of  tender  conscience  and 
specific  traits  of  moral  character? 

There  should,  of  course,  be  a  clear  ethical  note 
in  all  sermons,  sound  teaching  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  frequent  public  discussions  of  moral 
questions.  In  all  its  own  business  the  church 
should  set  the  example  of  promptness,  scrupulous 
honesty  and  fidelity.  It  is  a  monstrous  wrong 
to  immature  character  to  have  the  church  or  the 

*  Berwyn,  Maryland,  Presbyterian  Church. 


26o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

pastor  involved  in  questionable  business  transac- 
tions. 

The  godly  man  is  one  who  loves  the  Lord  his 
God  with  all  his  heart,  with  all  his  mind,  with  all 
his  soul,  and  with  all  his  strength.  We  need  not 
discuss  the  psychology  of  this  division  of  human 
nature  to  become  convinced  that  it  means  the 
whole  man  with  every  side  of  his  nature  devel- 
oped and  consecrated  to  God's  service.  We  are 
not  making  such  men  when  we  have  only  their 
hearts  regenerated  and  confine  our  work  nar- 
rowly to  the  spiritual.  We  are  indeed  beginning 
the  good  work  aright,  but  all  the  man  is  one  and 
all  of  the  man  must  necessarily  be  reached  with 
new  life  to  save  him  completely.  Here  is  the 
Divine  Charter  of  the  church  requiring  her  to  do 
such  institutional  work  which  is  co-ordinated  v/ith 
a  powerful  spiritual  center.  Every  new  develop- 
ment of  such  a  church  returns  added  power  to  the 
spiritual  and  contributes  to  personal  power  in 
Christian  work.  It  is  the  five-pointed  star  which 
at  a  distance  shines  with  one  glorious  effulgence. 
Such  a  church  is  a  true  church  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ. 

Professor  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield  of  the  Mass- 
achusetts Agricultural  College,  who  is  one  of 
former  President  Roosevelt's  Commission  on 
Country  Life,  said  recently,  "  The  country  church 
must  play  an  increasingly  larger  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  country  life.  I  believe  country 
clergymen  should  have  some  special  training  for 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     26 1 

their  work  in  the  way  of  special  reading  courses  or 
in  the  seminaries.  They  should  get  more  into 
touch  with  the  problems  of  the  farm  and  seek  to 
develop  a  deeper  interest  among  country  life 
educational  leaders  in  the  country  itself.  We 
should  keep  more  of  our  leaders  at  home.  I  don't 
believe  in  keeping  all  the  boys  on  the  farm  but 
we  don't  want  the  motion  to  obtain,  as  it  does  in 
some  places,  that  the  way  to  make  a  big  success 
of  life  is  to  get  away  from  the  farm." 

"  Greatly  begin  !  though  thou  have  time 
For  but  a  line,  be  that  sublime, 
Not  failure  but  low  aim  is  crime." 

Lowell. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

USING  ALL  HER  RESOURCES. 

The  Christian  church  is  at  sea  about  the  duty 
of  giving.  The  disastrous  effects  of  this  con- 
fusion of  thought  and  lack  of  definite  principles 
fall  most  heavily  upon  the  small  country  church. 
The  uncertainty  about  what  the  will  of  God  is 
concerning  our  offerings  and  the  indecision  as  to 
methods  is  unworthy  of  our  day  of  Bible  study 
and  practical  wisdom. 

In  the  country  church  there  is  not  often  a 
very  wealthy  man  who  pays  all  the  arrearages 
with  cheerfulness,  or  with  a  grimace,  but  who  in 
either  attitude  makes  sure  the  church  comes  out 
square  every  year;  nor  are  there  in  the  country 
the  small  group  of  rich  men  who  give  three- 
fourths  of  the  church's  income.  The  little;, 
church  in  the  village,  whether  panics  come  or 
go,  is  in  continual  financial  hardships.  The  appeal 
to  be  "  specially  liberal  to-day  "  on  the  plate  is  a 
regular  accompaniment  of  worship,  or  a  painful 
interruption  of  it,  for  the  appeal  must  often 
262 


THE  CHUR CH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIA  NIZING.     2  63 

needs  be  made,  as  the  pastor  thinks,  with  a 
humorous  remark,  or  an  attempt  at  it,  at  which 
the  strained  feelings  of  the  congregation  break 
into  a  smile  perfunctorily.  We  heard  a  dignified 
minister  break  the  sweet  influence  of  a  season  of 
worship  on  a  New  Year  Sunday  by  urging  all 
the  people  to  give  liberally,  in  fact  "  to  give  all 
the  money  they  had  in  their  pockets  for  he  heard 
that  an  old  proverb  declared  it  is  bad  luck  to 
leave  the  church  on  New  Year  Sunday  with  any 
money  in  your  pocket !  "  That,  however,  was 
far  less  coarse  than  the  usual  funny  story  that 
starts  the  plate  merrily  along  the  aisles  to  receive, 
in  spite  of  the  desecrating  story,  just  the  same 
pennies  it  would  have  jingled  if  nothing  had 
been  said.  And  this  pastor  called  the  giving  wor- 
ship and  blessed  it  when  it  returned  to  him.  But 
he  was  not  consistent  in  not  introducing  the  long 
prayer  with  a  very  funny  story  and  the  hymns 
with  a  really  humorous  remark.  Here  we  see 
the  confusion  in  which  giving  is  left. 

But  let  us  kindly  remember  that  in  many  cases 
the  pastor  who  makes  the  appeal  has  not  a 
*'  whole  silver  dollar  to  rub  against  another  in 
his  pocket."  One  of  them  has  a  salary  promised 
of  six  hundred  dollars  a  year  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty  in  arrears,  that  is  about  one  hundred 
paid  in  seven  months,  and  it  comes  in  small 
amounts  irregularly.  There  are  many  such 
cases,  some  of  them  where  a  rich  man  could  pay 
all  the  salary  without  inconvenience,  but  he  neither 


264  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

pays  much  nor  develops  a  financial  system.  In 
probably  a  majority  of  country  churches  there  is 
no  financial  method.  A  few  times  a  year  there 
is  hurrying  and  scurrying,  suppers  and  festivals, 
to  make  up  "  interest "  on  a  long  standing  mort- 
gage, or  salary,  in  a  humiliating  way  that  is  fear- 
fully costly  to  the  church's  influence. 

The  plate  collection  is  the  only  universal  cus- 
tom. It  is  sometimes  a  supplement  to  more  sys- 
tematic offerings  by  envelopes,  but  even  as  a 
supplement  it  seems  a  pitiable  thing  to  exhibit 
before  God  in  our  land  of  abounding  prosperity 
and  reckless  extravagance  upon  personal  com- 
forts. People  who  many  times  a  week  buy  cigars 
for  five  cents,  and  chewing  gum,  soda  water,  and 
every  other  such  thing,  give  in  the  following 
ways  to  God's  cause  once  or  twice  a  week.  I 
have  collected  actual  statistics  of  plate  offerings 
in  suburbs,  villages,  and  towns. 

In  a  good  suburb  for  each  service  the  average 
is  23^  cents  for  each  person  present  for  the  plate 
which  is  solemnly  offered  to  God! 

In  a  country  village  with  about  twenty  persons 
as  the  average  attendance  the  offerings  were 
about  fifty  cents  for  each  service. 

A  fine  country  church  gives  less  per  member 
on  the  plate  than  two  cents,  and  this  church 
gives  altogether  from  many  rich  farmers  about 
an  average  of  only  three  dollars  a  year  to  all 
church  work,  local  and  general. 

Imagine  a  lecture,  humorous,  literary,  or  scien- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    265 

tific,  with  a  plate  collection  of  2^  cents  for  each 
person.  Or  a  hospital  run  on  such  an  income, 
or  an  army  equipped  by  such  contributions,  or  a 
life-saving  station  so  managed.  The  hospital, 
the  army,  and  life-saving  work  are  so  expensive 
they  cannot  be  supported  by  private  offerings 
but  usually  have  government  grants,  but  would 
the  church  really  be  less  expensive  than  a  hos- 
pital if  the  church  were  as  thoroughly  alive  to 
the  real  needs  of  the  mind  and  soul  of  man  as 
physicians  are  to  physical  ills  and  remedies? 

The  foregoing  specimens  of  offerings  are 
typical  of  what  I  have  learned  but  "there  are 
better  country  churches ! "  Truly,  and  these 
admirable  ones  are  some  help  in  pointing  the  way 
out  of  the  worst  Slough  of  Despond  in  which  the 
church  is  so  needlessly  floundering.  Many  have 
a  system  of  finance  and  some  suburban  churches 
like  city  churches  have  men  who  foot  all  deficits. 

The  country  church  is  not  poverty-stricken 
because  it  has  no  resources  but  because  they  are 
undeveloped.  Many  people  in  the  congregation 
have  probably  during  the  week  spent  several 
times  as  much  foolishly  as  all  the  money  on  the 
plate;  more  for  trifles  and  luxuries  than  for 
God's  cause. 

Any  reform  in  giving  which  does  not  reach  the 
New  Testament  foundations  will  build  on  the 
sand.  What  is  the  present  day  Christian's  real 
duty  in  this  matter?  The  money  problem  is 
well-nigh  the   supreme  current  problem  of  the 


266  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

church.  It  involves  the  success  of  the  church, 
best  Christian  character,  and  the  honor  of 
Christ's  name.  If  the  church  were  now  holding 
Ecumenical  Councils  like  those  of  Nice  and 
Carthage,  it  would  be  worth  holding  such  a  rep- 
resentative assembly  of  all  Christians  to  get  at 
something  sensible,  adequate,  and  Christlike  on 
giving  of  money. 

Scriptural  principles,  however,  are  plain  and 
we  briefly  state  them  and  then  develop  the  only 
system  in  harmony  with  them. 

1.  The  Christian  is  regarded  in  the  Scriptures 
as  not  the  owner  of  any  goods  or  money  in  his 
possession  but  the  steward  of  it  for  God.  This 
is  an  ancient  doctrine  but  not  carried  to  practical 
results.  The  stewardship  of  wealth  is  only  a 
name  until  it  is  made  the  principle  in  giving,  in 
actual  offerings  to  God.  Just  as  men  recognize 
the  owner  of  the  house  they  rent  by  paying  rent 
regularly,  or  of  the  money  they  have  borrowed 
by  an  agreed  rate  of  interest  actually  paid.  Does 
this  involve  the  tithe?  Not  necessarily  as  the 
rate  of  rent  or  of  interest  but  the  tithe  is  an  illus- 
tration of  exactly  how  the  Scriptural  principle 
operates. 

2.  Christian  giving  should  be  first-fruits.  Be- 
fore he  apportions  money  for  anything  else  he  is 
under  obligation  to  give  in  proportion  to  his 
prosperity  to  God,  just  as  rent  and  interest  come 
first.  Should  he  give  anything  to  God's  cause 
while  he  is  in  debt?     Yes!  if  giving  to  God's 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     267 

cause  is  what  the  Scriptures  hold  it  to  be,  also  a 
debt,  and  absolutely,  like  rent  and  interest,  the 
first  claim.  The  law  of  first-fruits  is  based  on  the 
doctrine  of  Divine  ownership  and  human 
stewardship. 

3.  Hence,  systematic  and  proportionate  giving. 
Of  what  should  it  be  the  proportion?  Many 
members  of  the  church  base  it  upon  the  demands 
for  money  made  by  the  church  and  estimate 
their  proportion  of  this  amount  as  their  full  obli- 
gation. Here  is  the  reason  for  the  stress  in 
which  the  church  now  suffers.  There  is  no  such 
notion  in  the  Scriptures  on  giving. 

Of  course  it  is  equitable  in  a  sense  for  every 
man  to  give  his  proportionate  share  toward  any 
need  presented  by  the  church.  This  is  the  true 
brotherhood  of  bearing  burdens  according  to 
ability.  But  no  one  pays  rent  to  a  landlord  ac- 
cording to  that  landlord's  needs,  nor  interest 
according  to  the  lender's  needs  but  according  to 
certain  rates  on  the  whole  amount  or  the  whole 
property  used. 

The  proportion  for  giving  is  based  on  the  in- 
come of  the  Christian  irrespective  of  the  demands 
made  upon  him  by  his  church.  According  as  the 
Lord  has  prospered  him  so  let  him  lay  by  him  in 
store  for  offerings.  The  man  who  gives  his  share 
of  demands  made  may  be  far  from  what  he  ought 
to  give.  And  he  is  entirely  on  the  wrong  founda- 
tion. The  present  needs  of  the  church  are  not  the 
ultimate  standard  for  the  offerings  of  God's  peo- 


268  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

pie,  for  the  church  is  attempting  in  only  a  small 
measure  what  is  her  full  work. 

3.  The  offerings  should  be  based  on  a  pro- 
portion of  the  individual's  income  in  every  case. 
This  was  the  principle  of  tithing  in  ancient 
Israel  and  in  later  times.  The  treasury  might  be 
overflowing  with  unused  tithes  but  this  was  no 
consideration  to  the  tither.  For  the  tithe  it  must 
be  claimed  that  it  was  always  a  successful  way  of 
meeting  the  needs  of  religious  work.  In  ancient 
Israel  when  church  and  state  were  one  it  was 
the  first  tax  but  by  no  means  the  limit  of  the 
Israelite's  offerings.  In  many  cases  he  probably 
gave  fully  another  tithe  and  more. 

The  tithe  was  his  beginning  of  offerings,  taken 
out  as  first-fruits,  and  then  he  gave  free-will 
offerings  besides.  If  now  the  great  council  of 
churches  we  have  suggested  on  this  subject  were 
considering  this  matter  under  the  lead  of  prac- 
tical Christian  business  men,  what  other  plan 
could  they  adopt  than  to  make  the  tithe,  waiving 
all  kinds  of  discussion  of  tithing  as  now  an  obli- 
gation, the  sensible  practical  beginning  of  giving? 
It  is  certainly  a  good  way  of  meeting  all  the 
principles  of  Bible  offerings,  it  is  simple  and 
practicable,  and  it  has  the  immense  advantage  of 
universal  success  wherever  seriously  tried  for  a 
time. 

Let  some  one  who  objects  bring  on  a  better 
plan  for  beginning  the  church's  financial  organi- 
zation now  in  such  a  fearful  chaos.     This  matter 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     269 

of  securing  resources  for  Christ's  work  prac- 
tically, with  missions  now  at  a  standstill  and  in 
local  fields  the  work  blocked  for  want  of  support, 
is  supreme.  We  cannot  stop  longer  for  aca- 
demic discussion,  still  less  for  mere  objectors  who 
have  nothing  better  to  offer.  The  church  in  the 
country  above  all  needs  a  sound  and  permanent 
financial  organization. 

If  then,  experimentally  and  not  as  holding  it 
a  hard  and  fast  obligation,  the  church  should 
begin  by  asking  all  who  love  Christ  and  are  will- 
ing to  tithe  to  start  the  plan,  we  should  be  upon 
solid  ground.  If  only  a  few  in  every  church 
began  it  would  be  with  power.  If  one-fourth  of 
all  church  members  reached  tithing  in  a  year 
we  should  have  overflowing  treasuries  for  all 
funds  in  another  year.  This  is  an  easy  and  sure 
start,  for  every  attempt  to  introduce  tithing  seri- 
ously has  met  encouraging  response.  Perhaps 
another  proportion  of  income,  say  one-twelfth, 
one-fifteenth,  or  one-seventh  might  be  tried,  but 
no  one  ever  succeeded  on  another  proportion  and 
the  tithe  has  the  prestige  of  long  centuries  and 
universal  success,  and  as  a  beginning  of  a  sys- 
tem it  carries  out  the  Bible  principles  of  steward- 
ship, first-fruits,  and  proportion  of  income. 

(i)  Many  thousands  of  young  people  in  the 
Christian  Endeavor  Tenth  Legion  began  tithing 
with  enthusiasm  and  few  have  withdrawn.  The 
Tenth  Legion  now  numbers  25,073  and  was  be- 


270  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

gun  in  1897  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Ammerman.     They 
testify  of  its  blessedness  warmly. 

(2)  Many  persons  of  large  income,  several 
men  of  great  wealth,  are  tithers,  and  speak  of  it 
with  deep  gratitude  and  satisfaction.  A  large 
number  of  these  testimonies  have  been  gathered. 
(Thos.  Kane,  310  Ashland  Boulevard,  Chicago.) 
These  testimonies  and  instances  would  surely 
appeal  to  a  practical  business  man,  seeking  a 
way  out  of  the  church's  crisis  for  money  for 
missions  and  home  work. 

(3)  -^  goodly  number  of  churches  have 
begun  with  the  "  Tithe  Covenant "  plan  for 
volunteers  and  smaller  or  larger  groups  have 
adopted  tithing  gladly.  It  seems  possible  in  any 
church  to  secure  a  group  to  begin  with  it  and  it 
rapidly  spreads  to  many  others.  We  give  a  few 
examples,  some  of  them  in  country  churches. 

Wesley  Chapel,  Cincinnati,  was  in  1895  in  a 
most  distressing  condition  of  utter  discourage- 
ment. In  that  year  sixty  of  its  members  began 
to  tithe  their  income,  the  number  soon  rose  to 
100  and  now  158  are  tithers  out  of  a  total  mem- 
bership of  550.  These  158  pay  %  of  the  church's 
income,  the  other  400  only  j^  by  free  will  offer- 
ings, yet  they  are  just  as  well  off.  The  tithers 
are  poor  people  with  an  average  income  of  $325, 
their  tithe  a  little  over  $30.  Their  tithe  is  given 
in  unnamed  envelopes  and  distributed  to  25 
causes,  local,  home  and  abroad.  This  church 
gives  more  than  $1,000  to  missions,  as  much  as 


THE  CHUR CH  IN  R  URA L  CHR2ST1A N/ZING.     271 

ten  other  down  town  churches.  At  one  time 
out  of  769  rnembers  162  were  tithers,  105  women, 
45  men,  12  children,  giving  an  average  of  $31 
for  the  year,  their  average  income  being  there- 
fore $310.  Only  six  people  owned  their  homes. 
If  all  the  769  had  tithed  the  income  of  the  church 
would  have  been  nearly  $25,000  for  the  year. 

East  Connersville,  Ind.,  is  a  country  church 
with  twenty-five  who  tithe.  After  they  began 
the  church  raised  the  pastor's  salary  from  $153, 
their  share  on  a  circuit  plan,  to  $800  with  a 
pastor  wholly  for  their  church. 

First  Baptist  Church,  Peru,  Ind.,  has  47  who 
tithe  (18  men,  23  women,  6  children)  and  these 
gave  $849  in  six  months.  Previously  they  had 
given  $415  in  a  year. 

United  Presbyterian  Church,  Aurora,  111., 
three  of  four  elders,  two  of  five  trustees,  the 
pastor  and  nineteen  others  (25  in  all)  out  of  150 
members  gave  47  per  cent,  of  the  church's 
income. 

Third  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago, 
has  fifty  tithers  out  of  213  and  these  1/4  give  3/4 
church  offerings,  5/6  of  all  for  missions. 

An  interesting  statement  of  the  tithers  of  the 
Memorial  Presbyterian  Church,  Indianapolis, 
shows  how  God  often  prospers  those  who  thus 
honor  his  cause.  Observe  the  increase  in  returns 
from  just  2y  tithers  in  successive  quarters: — 

First  quarter,  $319. 

Second  quarter,  $723. 


272  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Third  quarter,  $815. 

Fourth  quarter,  $652.  , 

Fifth  quarter,  $617. 

Sixth  quarter,  $910. 

Seventh  quarter,  $880. 

Eighth  quarter,  $1,256. 

Later  there  were  70  tithers  who  gave,  Jan.  I 
to  Oct.  I,  1904,  $3,018. 

All  others  in  the  church,  $1,550. 

Delaware  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Buffalo,  30 
tithers  gave  $2,500  in  1903,  a  gain  of  $700  by 
them  in  1902. 

The  tithe  was  first  adopted  in  Palestine,  a  land 
of  small  towns  and  villages.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
plan  perfectly  suited  to  the  town  and  village 
conditions.  How  can  the  farmer  calculate  the 
real  tenth  of  his  income?  Or  how  the  country 
storekeeper?  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  to 
a  cent  but  it  can  be  approximated.  Let  each  man 
estimate  about  what  is  his  personal  income  after 
deducting  business  expenses  from  gross  receipts. 
Give  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  to  the  Lord's  cause, 
for  the  tithe  is  not  the  limit  of  giving  but  only 
the  practical  beginning.  The  farmers  and  store- 
keepers who  tithe  have  not  been  confused  about 
how  to  calculate  it.  It  may  be  calculated  on  the 
income  of  the  preceding  year  where  otherwise 
difficult  to  estimate. 

Let  the  country  church  come  to  see  the  neces- 
sity of  Scriptural  giving;  see  the  crisis  upon  the 
church  for  want  of  it,  and  the  simple  and  sensi- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R  URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    273 

ble  beginning  of  it  by  the  tithe.  A  tithe  is  a  fair 
rent  for  a  building.  The  Sabbath  law  requires 
one-seventh  of  time  to  be  given  directly  to  God, 
who  has  claim  to  all,  and  is  a  close  analogy.  In 
both  cases,  the  tenth  of  money  and  the  seventh  of 
time,  there  is  no  complete  discharge  of  obligation, 
for  all  time  and  all  money  are  to  be  used  as  God 
directs.  But  the  direct  giving  of  the  propor- 
tionate first-fruits,  the  first  day  of  the  week  and 
the  first  tenth  of  our  income,  are  acknowledg- 
ment of  Divine  ownership  and  our  stewardship 
of  time  and  possessions. 

Here  the  local  church  may  practically  start 
the  Scriptural  way  of  offerings  in  worship  of 
God.  There  is  now  literature  that  will  very 
clearly  present  the  tithe,  show  its  reasonable 
character,  and  then  the  pastor  or  church  should 
issue  a  call  to  the  willing  ones  after  much  prayer 
and  conference.  A  country  church  in  Pennsyl- 
vania had  nearly  a  hundred  to  respond  after  a 
wise  presentation  of  the  matter  and  that  church 
has  wonderfully  flourished^  since.  Individuals 
who  tithe,  like  the  writer  for  more  than  twenty- 
five  years,  always  speak  of  the  convenience  of  it 
and  the  satisfaction  of  it  as  a  method.  All 
tithers  are  sure  also  to  be  "  free-will  offerers  " 
beyond,  but  the  tithe  is  the  first-fruits  taken  out 
sacredly  first.  We  waive,  let  us  repeat,  all  dis- 
cussion of  the  tithe  as  an  obligation  upon  Chris- 
tians or  as  the  limit  of  their  obligation.  We  see 
in  it  only   a  practical  and   sure  beginning   of 


274  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Scriptural  giving  which  shall  be  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  stewardship,  proportionate  of  income, 
first-fruits  and  systematic. 

The  crisis  upon  the  church  in  regard  to  her 
inadequate  income  is  painful  and  shameful.  It 
arises  from  the  very  success  of  Foreign  Missions 
and  unparalleled  opportunities  in  the  Home  Land. 
But  the  local  church's  undeveloped  resources 
and  her  untrained  membership  are  the  gigantic 
obstacle.  We  heard  recently  a  passionate  plea 
from  the  secretary  of  a  great  denomination's 
Board  of  Home  Missions  that  was  obliged  to  cut 
appropriations  this  very  year  nearly  20  per  cent, 
on  all  its  fields,  though  they  ought  to  spend  twice 
the  former  amount  at  once,  and  yet  with  the  cut 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  debt!  And  a  few  days 
later  the  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Missions  just 
as  painfully  showed  wonderful  opportunities  in 
China,  Korea,  in  South  America,  and  in  Africa 
calling  for  millions  of  money  at  once  but  nothing 
additional  forthcoming.  Young  men  offer  them- 
selves for  Mission  work  who  are  remarkably  en- 
dowed and  cultured  but  there  is  no  money  to 
send  them!  Fields  calling  for  hundreds  more 
men  but  workers  actually  have  to  be  withdrawn 
for  want  of  money ! 

And  all  the  while  the  church  in  America  has 
members  in  the  midst  of  boundless  material  pros- 
perity only  one-sixth  of  whom  have  ever  heard 
of  these  wonderful  opportunities,  and  few  of 
these  one-sixth  giving  systematically  or  propor- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING. 


275 


tionately.  The  other  five-sixths  never  from  their 
conversion  on  have  been  made  to  feel  any  real 
sense  of  their  responsibility  for  the  salvation  of 
the  world  or  for  Scriptural  giving. 

The  pleas,  agonizing  pleas,  of  these  missionary 
secretaries  were  made  to  the  pastors  of  these  un- 
developed churches,  and  because  nothing  was 
done  to  fully  organize  for  missions  and  finances, 
probably  not  one  thousand  dollars  additional 
could  be  wrung  from  the  nearly  three  hundred 
country  and  city  pastors  who  heard  and  ap- 
plauded the  great  speeches! 

Yet  no  one  doubts  that  universal  tithing  or 
even  a  partial  number  in  all  churches  tithing,  or 
simply  calling  into  organization  those  willing  to 
begin,  under  good  leadership  would  solve  the 
fearful  problem.  No  one  is  able  to  suggest  any 
other  way,  for  every  other  way  has  been  tried, 
good  plans  and  discreditable  plans,  and  all  have 
failed. 

One-seventh  of  time  was  to  be  the  Lord's  in 
the  ancient  church  and  one-tenth  of  income.  We 
have  maintained  the  time  proportion  in  Sabbath 
keeping  but  what  would  have  happened  if  we 
had  dealt  with  that  as  we  do  with  the  one-tenth 
of  income?  What  if  preaching  about  the  Sab- 
bath institution  were  as  shifty,  uninformed,  and 
undecided  as  it  is  upon  the  tithe  ?  Confusion  and 
disaster  upon  the  church  would  result  if  the 
Sabbath  were  abandoned.  But  confusion,  shame, 
and  disaster  in  fearful  crises  are  upon  the  church 


276  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

for  want  of  money.  Lack  of  money  for  larger 
mission  work  in  Japan  has  probably  lost  Christ 
that  empire  for  this  generation;  it  will  forfeit 
the  marvelous  educational  opportunity  in  China 
in  the  next  decade;  and  India,  South  America, 
and  other  ripe  fields. 

How  successful  is  the  tithe!  By  it,  as  a 
voluntary  undertaking,  even  a  little  country 
church  that  had  raised  only  $150  for  a  pastor's 
salary  became  such  a  success  that  they  wanted 
a  pastor's  full  time  and  gave  him  $800.  So  there 
will  be  overflowing  treasuries  when  Christians 
give  by  the  Scriptural  plan,  and  not  simply  on 
the  present  demands  of  a  timid  and  partially 
worked  church,  unable  to  enter  vast  fields  white 
to  the  harvest. 

4.  The  local  church  and  the  general  field 
should  ordinarily  share  equally.  This  is  the 
principle  adopted  by  the  best  progressive 
churches.  An  envelope,  the  duplex,  is  a  con- 
venient plan  for  carrying  it  into  effect. 

5.  When  the  tithing  has  reached  a  large  num- 
ber of  any  church  the  distribution  of  funds  may 
be  planned  broadly  for  all. 

6.  In  the  use  of  the  Lord's  money  a  serious 
question  is  upon  the  crowded  condition  of 
churches  in  many  small  towns.  As  long  as  there 
are  15  denominations  of  Baptists  in  America,  9 
of  Catholics,  24  denominations  of  Lutherans,  17 
of  Methodists,  12  of  Presbyterians,  3  Reformed, 
and  about   forty  good  sized  denominations  be- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING. 


211 


sides,  the  inviting  little  town  will  have  in  many 
cases  five  to  eight  weak  churches.  Sometimes 
there  are  two  or  three  strictly  of  the  Methodist 
type,  or  that  number  all  Lutherans,  or  Baptists, 
besides  other  denominations.  There  would  not 
be  necessary  the  surrender  of  a  single  doctrine, 
nor  much,  if  any  change,  in  forms  of  worship  to 
unite  these  churches  of  the  same  type  in  a  town. 
There  are,  of  course,  personal  reasons,  family 
reasons,  old  associations,  property  questions,  but 
all  these  ought  to  be  given  up  for  the  honor  of 
Christ's  cause.  There  have  been  in  a  few  cases 
the  union  of  Baptists  with  Congregational,  and 
Methodist  with  Congregational,  but  the  union  of 
weak  churches  of  exactly  the  same  type  ought  to 
be  much  easier,  and  in  the  small  town  is  surely 
an  imperative  duty.  The  two  pastors  out  of  five 
thus  released  and  the  money  raised,  besides  what 
the  denominational  Home  Missions  give,  are 
needed  elsewhere.  For  every  town  with  too 
many  churches  there  is  another  with  none  at  all. 
A  competent  authority.  Rev.  Dr.  Ward  Piatt,* 
of  one  great  Home  Missionary  Society,  says, 
"  In  the  new  Northwest  of  the  United  States 
there  are  more  than  i,ooo  towns  where  boys  and 
girls  have  never  seen  a  church,  never  had  the 
privilege  of  attending  a  Sunday-school,  and  in 
which  no  religious  societies  exist."  This  is  only 
one  section.    The  federation  or  amalgamation  of 

*  "  The  Frontier  " — a  discussion  of  Home  Missions  of  great 
value.     Rev.  Dr.  Ward  Piatt. 


278  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

churches  in  older  towns  is  a  delicate  matter  when 
one  gets  close  to  it,  or  when  one  is  pastor  or 
trustee  in  one  of  the  churches.  But  it  is  an 
imperative  duty  and  necessity  and  has  fortunately 
already  been  made  a  success. 

In  Vermont  there  are  several  small  villages 
where  a  Congregational  church  without  a  pastor 
joined  with  a  Methodist  church  in  employing 
one  pastor,  each  paying  an  equitable  portion  of 
expenses,  and  the  benevolent  offerings  being 
apportioned  to  each  denomination  in  the  same 
way.  Or  a  Baptist  and  a  Methodist  church  were 
thus  united.  The  arrangement  is  a  success,  as 
one  of  these  pastors  reports.  In  other  states 
efforts  are  made  with  promise  for  complete 
amalgamation  of  two  or  three  small  churches 
into  one,  the  denominational  leaders  approving 
and  urging  it. 

In  Philadelphia,  Dec.  8,  1908,  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  a 
new  organization  for  effective  fellowship  in  the 
work  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  and  representing 
officially  twenty-three  denominations  including 
all  the  large  ones,  took  advanced  ground  upon 
this  duty  of  uniting  small  churches  in  towns 
now  overcrowded  with  them.  It  "  urges  denomi- 
national leaders  to  come  together  in  frank,  fra- 
ternal conferences  to  consider  their  common  in- 
terests in  the  extension  of  the  Lord's  Kingdom 
in  rural  districts,  in  order  that  financial  wasteful- 
ness may  be  stopped,  unseemly  rivalry  cease  in 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    279 

carrying  on  the  work  of  evangelization.  That 
over-churched  communities  may  be  relieved,  un- 
churched communities  supplied,  and  the  cause  of 
Christ  find  a  new  place  of  honor  in  the  hearts  of 
men." 

Some  Sunday-schools  are  now  undertaking 
Scriptural  instruction  in  giving  in  a  practical  and 
successful  way  possible  at  once  in  all  towns, 
suburbs,  and  villages.  The  plan  requires  that 
the  church  assume  all  expenses  of  the  school  in 
its  annual  budget,  and  then  have  the  Sunday- 
school  on  successive  Sundays  contribute  to 
missions,  to  general  church  movements,  and  to 
the  local  church.  These  interests  in  each  case 
are  presented  on  the  Sunday  previous  in  a  five- 
minute  talk,  using  the  blackboard  and  charts  for 
statistics  and  outline  exhibit.  On  first  Sundays 
of  the  month,  missions  receive  the  offering;  on 
the  second,  the  local  church ;  on  the  third,  gen- 
eral movements  of  the  church ;  on  the  fourth,  the 
local  church  again ;  and  on  the  fifth  Sunday  of  a 
month  which  occurs  once  a  quarter,  some  special 
cause  local  or  general.  Under  wise  instruction 
and  management  the  Sunday-school  gives  back 
to  the  local  church  twice  what  its  expenses  are, 
and  still  better  there  is  being  trained  a  new 
generation  of  systematic  and  proportionate  con- 
tributors to  the  Lord's  work  in  the  world. 

If  now,  in  thinking  of  the  difficulties  of  secur- 
ing sufficient  resources  for  the  Lord's  work,  we 
glance  for  a  moment  at  the  wealth  and  income 


28o  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

of  the  American  people,  how  the  importance  of 
systematic  and  proportionate  offerings  is  finally 
emphasized. 

The  enormous  total  wealth  of  the  people  in  the 
United  States  is  an  incomprehensible  figure, 
116,000,000,000  (116  billions)  of  dollars,  or 
nearly  $1,500  to  each  man,  woman  and  child. 
Of  this— 

Productive  Real  Estate  and  Improvements. . .   55,000,000,000. 
(Taxed  property  presumably  earning  income.) 

Live  Stock 4,073,000,000. 

Agricultural  Products  (in  stock) 1,899,000,000. 

Manufacturing     "  7,409,000,000. 

Annual  value  of  all  farm  returns* 7,400,000,000. 

Annual  returns  from  manufacturing 15,000,000,000. 

The  United  States  contains  only  five  per  cent, 
of  the  world's  population,  but  it  raises  20  per 
cent,  of  all  its  wheat,  35  per  cent,  of  its  coal,  24 
per  cent,  of  its  gold,  38  per  cent,  of  its  silver,  40 
per  cent,  of  its  iron,  42  per  cent,  steel,  55  per  cent, 
petroleum,  70  per  cent,  of  its  cotton,  and  70  per 
cent,  of  its  corn. 

The  United  States  Census  collected  statistics 
of  the  earnings  in  123,703  establishments  em- 
ploying 3,207,819  work-people,  over  one-half  of 
the  whole  number  in  America  in  such  work. 
Their  weekly  pay  is  $33,185,791,  about  $1,600,- 
000,000  a  year. 

One-third  of  all  the  people  (more  than  Yz 
really)  belong  to  the  church.  One-third  of  all 
*  Estimate  of  Secretary  of  Agriculture  for  1908. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     28 1 

the  above  income,  or  estimated  income,  if  tithed, 
would  reach  from  one  thousand  to  nearly  two 
thousand  millions  of  dollars  a  year!  The  total 
offerings  are  probably  less  than  two  hundred 
millions  for  all  purposes  of  religious  service. 
That  is  about  one-tenth  of  one-tenth  of  the  in- 
come of  Christian  people  in  America.  If  we 
approached  the  tithe  every  movement  of  Christ's. 
Kingdom  could  be  wonderfully  expanded,  and 
the  world  could  indeed  be  saved  in  this  gen- 
eration. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

DISCOVERING,    TRAINING,    AND    PLACING    HER 
LEADERS    AND    WORKERS. 

"  We  raise  men  here,"  said  a  Massachusetts 
farmer  when  his  barren  hills  were  compared  with 
a  sneer  to  Western  fertility.  To  raise  men  is  the 
real  mission  of  the  church,  for  all  her  work  is 
for  men,  by  men  and  for  the  production  of  noble 
manhood.  Her  supreme  effort,  therefore,  must 
be  to  discover  thoroughly  able  leaders  and  work- 
ers who  can  influence  men  in  our  day. 

These  able  workers  cannot  be  found  already  in 
full  equipment.  The  church  discovers  them,  if 
at  all,  in  the  rough,  untrained,  undeveloped. 
They  must  be  recognized  in  the  promise  of  their 
powers. 

I.  How  can  the  work  of  finding  talents  in  the 
country  church  be  so  organized  that  none  escape  ? 
That  the  boy  who  might  become  a  great  mission- 
ary or  a  powerful  preacher,  a  bold  and  success- 
ful reformer,  or  an  educational  leader  may  be 
brought  out  fully?  Who  does  not  recognize  the 
paramount  importance  of  it?  The  solemn  obli- 
282 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    283 

gation  of  it?  One  such  person  found  is  reward 
for  a  generation's  effort  and  lifts  the  church  into 
a  new  era. 

Discerning  of  spirits  was  accounted  a  Divine 
endowment  upon  the  Apostles.  The  Lord  bids  us 
pray  to  him  that  he  would  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest.  After  the  prayer,  in  Christ's 
own  case  an  all-night  one,  we  may  well  be  on  the 
alert  to  see  whom  the  Lord  is  calling.  So  the 
pastor  and  the  church  officers  should  seek  for 
promising  young  men  and  women,  and  for  all 
older  men  yet  undeveloped,  as  men  search  for 
diamonds. 

I.  They  will  often  be  found  hidden  in  a  home 
with  a  dull  and  unhelpful  parentage.  Heredity 
has  many  subtle  laws  not  yet  defined.  In  a  home 
where  the  father  was  unintelligent  and  without 
aspirations,  the  mother  almost  simple-minded,  a 
brilliant  little  girl  was  born.  She  was  intensely 
active  in  mind,  with  remarkable  memory,  imagi- 
nation, penetration,  and  gifts  of  expression. 
Fortunately  for  her,  she  was  too  bright  to  be 
hidden.  In  another  home  of  direct  poverty  and 
ignorance  a  brainy  student  and  preacher  distin- 
guished in  two  continents  began  his  life.  Some- 
times these  children  of  genius  in  hard  conditions 
themselves  break  through  all  barriers,  especially 
when  a  part  of  their  genius  is  an  unconquerable 
will.  But  many  have  other  fine  qualities  but  not 
the  strong  will  or  defiant  self-assertion.     Gray's 


284  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

"  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard "  has  appli- 
cation possibly  to  every  country  churchyard. 

"  Perhaps  in  this  neglected  spot  is  laid, 

Some  heart  once  pregnant  with  celestial  fire; 

Hands  that  the  rod  of  empire  might  have  swayed, 

Or  wake  to  ecstasy  the  living  lyre  ; 

Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest ; 

Some  Cromwell  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood." 

Oh !  the  pity  of  it,  the  immeasurable  loss  of  it  to 
the  world  and  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Let  us 
stop  any  further  such  losses. 

Unusual  talents  are  often  joined  to  profound 
modesty  and  self-depreciation,  and  unless  some 
one  lifts  the  person  out  of  himself  into  his 
opportunity  he  will  never  seek  it.  Yet  this  same 
modesty  or  a  genuine  humility  is  one  of  the 
beautiful  and  powerful  Christian  graces,  and  if 
the  Church  can  bring  out  this  soul  of  intellectual 
powers  it  will  secure  a  great  spiritual  leader.  It 
will  pay  to  search  dark  corners  of  the  field  for 
jewels  of  the  kingdom. 

2.  The  parents'  estimate  of  a  child  is  often 
utterly  wrong.  The  dreaming  boy  of  some  spe- 
cial talents  is  to  his  plodding  farmer  father  sim- 
ply a  lazy  fellow.  The  boy  does  not  enthusi- 
astically follow  the  plow  and  feed  the  cattle,  and 
is  scolded,  punished  and  repressed.  It  may  be 
true  that  he  is  lazy  and  fitted  only  for  hard  labor- 
ing. But  he  ought  to  be  thoroughly  understood 
first  of  all.  His  heart's  deepest  aspirations,  if  he 
has  such,  should  be  sympathetically  welcomed. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  R  URAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     285 

His  sense  of  Divine  mission  for  himself  must  be 
profoundly  considered.  He  may  have  will 
enough  to  continue  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  but 
when  too  late  it  may  be  found  he  had  not.  There 
is  no  substitute  for  close  comradeship  with  one's 
children  to  learn  what  is  in  their  hearts,  put 
there,  it  may  be,  by  the  spirit  of  God.  The  pas- 
tor and  the  church  must  develop  this  same  close 
fellowship  and  comradeship  with  young  people 
to  save  the  best  from  life-long  loss.  How  can 
the  uneducated  farmer  father  be  expected  to 
appreciate  the  child  who  at  school,  possibly  by 
the  touch  of  a  splendid  teacher,  has  been 
awakened  to  visions  of  a  wonderful  mission  for 
which  he  has  a  strangely  rich  natural  equipment  ? 
Or,  how  can  the  mother,  however  loving,  who  is 
bound  to  unending  and  life-crushing  kitchen 
tools  see  what  the  child  sees?  Here  is  where 
the  Church  has  a  sublime  mission  in  country 
homes  to  discover  to  the  parents  the  real  capacity 
and  promise  of  their  children,  and  thus  to  save 
these  children  from  being  irreparably  wronged 
and  the  world  robbed  of  its  leaders.  How  beauti- 
ful in  the  life  of  Lincoln,  the  uncouth  country 
boy,  that  his  stepmother  understood  him!  It  is 
encouraging  indeed  that  all  over  the  land  country 
pastors  can  tell  stories  of  splendid  discoveries  of 
such  boys  and  girls. 

3.  These  coming  men  of  power  are  often 
hidden  in  homes  of  wickedness.  The  saloon 
keeper's    child,    the    drunken    criminal's    child 


286  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

whose  father  and  mother  are  often  in  jail,  and 
the  dissolute  woman's  child  ought  to  be  helped 
in  Christlike  compassion.  These  innocent  ones 
suffer  enough  for  the  time  not  to  have  their 
whole  life  blasted  by  another's  sin.  The  church 
which  eagerly  does  such  work  has  its  reward  not 
only  in  saving  souls  but  in  finding  sometime  a 
notable  worker.  Instances  of  men  risen  to  promi- 
nence from  such  degradations  are  not  proclaimed 
from  housetops,  for  the  men  gladly  throw  a  veil 
over  such  childhood,  but  every  man  who  has 
come  close  to  many  great  men  knows  several 
such  cases.  Enough  to  encourage  every  worker 
to  gather  all  these  children  into  church  and  the 
very  babies  upon  the  Cradle  Roll. 

4.  They  are  often  hidden  under  homely  per- 
sonal appearance  or  even  repelling  peculiarities. 
A  distinguished  pastor  and  educator  was  taken 
out  of  an  orphanage  because  a  kind-hearted 
woman  decided  to  select  the  homeliest  child  there 
since  no  one  else  would  be  likely  to  want  him. 
Another  most  brilliant  scholar  and  pastor  was 
repulsive  with  tiny  eyes,  great  ugly  nose,  brick 
red  hair,  and  queer  head  upon  illshapen  shoul- 
ders. He  told  me  that  when  he  took  a  new 
charge  and  walked  up  the  aisle  for  the  first  time 
he  could  not  help  hearing  involuntary  exclama- 
tions, "  My !  What  a  homely  man !  "  He  said 
good-naturedly,  and  what  a  triumph  it  meant, 
**  I  pity  the  congregation  when  I  rise  and  have 
to  present  such  a  face  to  them ! "    Think  of  the 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    287 

fearful  odds  in  the  struggle  that  would  accumu- 
late. But  he  was  a  beautiful  character  later  in 
life,  a  marvelous  preacher,  a  great  spiritual 
leader  and  a  diamond  of  many  facets  of  glory. 
There  are  others  such  in  the  village  who  are  the 
butt  of  ridicule  in  general  but  who  have  souls  of 
wonderful  powers.  In  any  case  the  homely  chil- 
dren ought  to  be  specially  fathered  and  mothered 
by  the  church  for  tender  love  of  Christ's  sake. 
5.  In  the  better  homes  where  parents  are  sin- 
cerely on  the  watch  for  their  children's  future 
there  are  perils  for  both  parents  and  child.  The 
danger  of  the  fond  parent's  prepossession  for  the 
child  toward  a  certain  career  instead  of  a  study 
of  the  child's  abilities  and  fitness.  The  father 
wants  his  boy  to  become  his  successor  in  a  pro- 
fession or  in  business,  but  God  has  another  call 
for  the  boy.  The  pious  mother  consecrates  her 
boy  to  the  Christian  ministry  and  is  dismayed  to 
find  he  feels  God's  call  to  another  field.  On  the 
other  hand  there  are  all  too  few  Christian  mothers 
now  consecrating  their  sons  to  the  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel,  for  doubtless  in  most  cases 
God  inspired  the  mothers.  The  church  may 
wisely  teach  the  better  way  of  seeking  to  know 
God's  mission  for  every  child.  We  will  not 
lightly  give  up  the  ancient  and  comforting  faith 
that  God  has  a  plan  for  every  life  in  this  world. 
What  is  it  for  the  particular  child?  Children 
have  been  repressed  and  their  real  powers  sup- 
pressed in  good  homes  from  religious  motives 


288  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 

no    less    than    in    irreligious   homes    for    sinful 
purposes. 

II.  Having  found  the  diamond  in  the  rough, 
what  is  the  duty  of  the  country  church  in  polish- 
ing it?    What  is  possible  in  training? 

1.  The  use  of  colleges  and  technical  schools 
by  the  church.  There  is  no  greater  work  the 
rural  pastor  can  do  than  to  direct  his  young  peo- 
ple to  higher  schools  for  a  larger  education.  He 
may  create  an  atmosphere  for  college  prepara- 
tion in  his  little  church.  He  may  well  become  an 
enthusiast  for  the  young  people's  education  so 
that  the  close-fisted  and  plodding  farmers  will 
open  to  it,  and  all  the  people  rightly  estimate  it. 
Who  does  not  know  that  three  or  four  times  as 
many  students  might  throng  our  colleges  and 
universities  as  now  attend  if  pastors  in  the  coun- 
try saw  this  opportunity  for  their  young  people? 

2.  Individual  counsel  in  studies  of  earnest 
young  people  or  by  bringing  educated  people 
into  friendly  relations  with  them.  There  are 
many  pastors  who  gladly  become  private  tutors 
in  their  long  leisure  hours  to  the  aspiring  but 
poor  young  man.  There  are  no  happier  experi- 
ences than  years  afterward  to  talk  over  these 
early  efforts. 

3.  Organize  Chautauqua  Circles  in  the  village 
or  town.  One  small  town  is  notable  as  having 
for  many  years  had  large  circles  and  at  times 
four  circles  in  different  churches.  Other  reading 
courses  are  helpful. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING. 


289 


4.  Institute  a  Bible  study  class,  a  Teacher 
Training  class,  and  direct  larger  Bible  reading 
in  connection  with  prayer-meetings  and  public 
services.  The  teacher  training  movement  is  now 
sweeping  the  country,  and  it  is  no  longer  pos- 
sible to  object  that  it  is  impracticable  in  the 
country  village  or  small  town,  for  in  hundreds 
of  these  places  they  have  been  in  successful 
operation.  Every  such  class  a  success  means  a 
new  Sunday-school  with  real  educational  Bible 
work,  spiritual  ingathering,  and  character  de- 
velopment. No  meeting  is  so  delightful  nor  so 
widely  helpful  in  all  church  enterprise. 

III.  The  placing  of  the  leaders  and  workers 
is  the  final  responsibility  of  the  church,  so  fearful 
in  its  importance  that  Christ  saw  it,  as  noted  be- 
fore, and  spent  a  whole  night  in  prayer  before 
he  chose  the  twelve  apostles.  In  earlier  times  the 
ordination  of  a  pastor  was  preceded  by  fasting 
and  prayer  by  the  whole  church.  What  shall 
we  think  then  of  church  elections  so  flippant  in 
spirit,  so  full  of  unworthy  motives?  Of  elections 
to  the  Sunday-school  Superintendency  where  low 
political  tricks  are  used?  Of  bitter  fights  over 
the  elections  of  trustees?  There  ought  to  be 
long  prayer  for  God  to  choose  and  to  send  forth 
the  man  he  selects.  How  beautiful  the  ancient 
Israelitish  customs  of  God's  call  to  king,  prophet 
and  leader.  He  promises  to  do  it  for  the  Church 
to-day. 

I.  This  does  not  preclude  the  most  thorough 


2^0  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

consideration  of  the  fitness  of  the  candidate  but 
it  requires  it.  The  office  ought  to  be  magnified 
in  importance,  intellectual  and  spiritual  qualifi- 
cations of  the  highest  kind  sought  for  it,  and  the 
best  man  always  voted  for  in  fear  of  God,  for  it 
is  God's  cause  we  are  seeking  to  promote. 

2.  Regular  terms  for  all  officers  are  essential. 
Indefinitely  continued  Sunday-school  officers, 
trustees,  or  deacons  have  crippled  many  churches 
beyond  redemption.  Some  of  these  officers  want 
to  make  a  time  record  of  a  quarter  century  serv- 
ice, but  they  are  seeking  only  a  "  time  "  record, 
not  a  record  of  real  achievements.  It  seems  to 
matter  little  that  the  church  or  the  Sunday-school 
is  sadly  declining  under  their  administrations, 
that  no  new  people  are  being  received,  no  ingath- 
ering, no  spiritual  results.  It  is  enough  for  them 
to  point  to  twenty-five  years  in  that  office,  time, 
time,  but  little  work  done. 

3.  The  work  of  men  elected  by  prayer  and 
wisdom  should  be  appreciated  by  the  church. 
Men  have  given  twenty  years  of  really  good  serv- 
ice and  the  church  been  blessed  of  God  by  them 
and  no  recognition  of  it  is  made.  They  step  out 
of  office  and  their  successors  are  elected  with 
only  perfunctory  thanks.  The  wise  pastor  will 
correct  this  neglect.  Birthdays  of  good  men 
furnish  him  a  fine  opportunity  to  call  the  church 
to  honor  him.  There  is  no  better  way  to  pro- 
mote earnest  and  faithful  service. 

"  No  man  is  born  into  the  world  whose  work  is  not  born  with 
him." — Lowell. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SPECIFIC  ORGANIZATIONS  IN  THE  COUNTRY 
CHURCH. 

We  have  now  seen  the  gospel  principles  on 
which  Christ  organized  the  Church  for  work. 
These  are  her  chart  and  constitution.  Unless 
she  steers  closely  by  these  she  is  adrift,  near  to 
perilous  reefs,  and  will  be  long  overdue,  if  not 
wrecked. 

1.  Preaching  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  In 
the  distant  world  by  intelligent  personal  responsi- 
bility of  every  member  either  to  go,  or  to  send 
aid  by  Scriptural  offerings;  in  its  immediate 
field  by  every  member's  personal  work,  and  teach- 
ing all  of  Christ's  truth. 

2.  Employing  every  member  in  Christlike 
breadth  of  work  that  will  use  all  his  talents. 

3.  Ministering  effectively  to  every  side  of 
every  man's  nature. 

4.  Developing  the  resources  of  the  church  by 
the  complete  Scriptural  principles. 

5.  Discovering  leaders  and  workers,  training 
and  placing  them. 

291 


2^2  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

These  principles  when  realized  constitute  the 
powerful  spiritual  center  in  a  thoroughly  or- 
ganized church. 

Remember  that  as  no  army  is  organized  until 
every  enlisted  soldier  is  in  a  definite  company  at 
a  definite  post  with  gun  in  hand  and  drilled ;  no 
factory  organized  until  every  workman  is  in  a 
definite  department  at  a  designated  work-bench, 
so  no  church  can  be  overorganized  or  even  fully 
organized  while  the  members  are  unplaced  at 
specific  work  for  Christ. 

Many  societies,  bands,  leagues,  associations  are 
required  by  the  fully  organized  local  church,  all 
strictly  co-ordinated  with  the  spiritual  norm,  and 
all  contributing  to  church  membership  and  suc- 
cess, instead  of  drawing  away  from  the  church  as 
some  Institutional  work  otherwise  has  done. 
The  church  should  become  a  living  spiritual  or- 
ganism in  vital  unity,  however  many  and  largely 
developed  may  be  the  auxiliary  branches.  It 
should  not  be  a  patchwork  with  little  spiritual 
power,  adding  societies  as  fancy  suggests  another 
and  another  side  of  activity. 

If  every  member  of  the  church  is  to  be  placed 
at  service  according  to  his  ability  and  every 
person  helped  according  to  his  need,  how  many 
organizations  will  the  local  church  require? 
One  great  church  has  sixty  associations  all  in 
active  success ;  some  country  churches  have 
twenty-five  to  thirty. 

We  therefore  study  some  specific  organizations 


THE  CHUR  CH  IN  R  URA  L  CHRIS  TI AN  I  ZING.     293 

now  at  work  in  country  churches,  more  or  less 
the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  Scriptural  principles 
before  outlined. 

I.  The  Sunday-school  in  modern  efficiency. 
Barring  all  untried  theories  now  we  glance  at 
what  the  Bible   School  to-day  accomplishes. 

I.  If  it  is  graded  on  psychological  bases  and 
has  improved  courses  of  Bible  study,  including 
both  International  Graded  Lessons,  memory  and 
supplemental  lessons,  it  will  become  the  church's 
most  helpful  school  of  the  Bible.  The  grading 
now  includes  as  departments,  the  Cradle  Roll  for 
the  infants,  under  three  years  of  age  who  usually 
are  unable  to  attend  the  school;  this  is  the  true 
infant  class,  spiritually  cared  for  in  many  ways 
as  Cradle  Roll  plans  have  shown.  Next  the 
Beginners'  Department  of  children  from  three  to 
six  years,  for  whom  a  special  course  of  lessons  is 
provided.  Then  the  Primary  from  six  years  to 
nine ;  next,  the  Junior  from  nine  to  twelve  years ; 
and  the  Intermediate  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
years ;  the  Senior  and  Adult  departments,  all  with 
special  organization  and  lessons  adapted  to  their 
needs.  The  Teacher  Training  department  in  the 
school  itself,  consists  of  young  and  old  preparing 
to  teach  in  the  future,  and  the  Teacher  Training 
class  meets  during  the  week  and  consists  of 
teachers  now  in  service;  both  pursue  the  same 
special  course  of  lessons  upon  the  Bible,  the 
school,  the  principles  of  teaching,  and  Sunday- 
school  organization  in  some  text-book  selected 


294 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


from  many  excellent  ones  now  at  hand.  The 
Home  Department  provides  for  distribution  of 
lessons  to  all  who  are  unable  to  attend  the  school 
session  and  for  some  supervision  at  home. 

This  grading  is  possible  and  is  done  in  many 
small  country  Sunday-schools  of  twenty-five  to 
fifty  enrolment.  One  class  may  form  a  depart- 
ment  and  have  the  graded  lesson,  and  promotions 
be  carefully  made  from  class  to  class  as  depart- 
ments. The  schools  which  have  conquered  the 
initial  difficulties  have  found  it  a  power  in  Bible 
instruction. 

2.  Supplemental  lessons  include  courses  on 
Bible  books  and  general  contents,  on  Bible 
geography,  doctrines,  ethics ;  on  church  history 
and  doctrines,  missions,  and  on  hand  work.  These 
supplemental  lessons  are  developed  in  small  book- 
lets, are  studied  at  home,  and  recited  in  the  first 
five  or  eight  minutes  of  the  Sunday-school  lesson 
period  before  going  to  the  International  lesson. 

3.  Teacher  Training  is  successfully  done  in 
many  country  districts.  The  first  man  to  com- 
plete the  course  in  Pennsylvania  is  a  country 
pastor,  and  he  has  carried  several  classes  through 
the  course  in  a  farming  district  and  small  village. 

4.  Spiritual  work  can  be  planned  through 
the  teachers  by  careful  preparation  and  personal 
work  of  the  teachers  before,  at,  and  after  a  De- 
cision or  Confession  day.  In  some  cases  these 
plans  have  reached  and  brought  to  Christ  every 
unsaved  scholar  in  the  school. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING. 


29s 


5.  The  adult  organized  class  movements, 
whether  on  Baraca  and  Philathea  plans  or  others, 
have  become  the  most  popular  movements  of  the 
day.  The  entrance  of  large  numbers  of  men  and 
women  into  active  Sunday-school  work  has  given 
the  school  new  dignity  and  popularity.* 

The  church  Sunday-schools  are  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  church  through  its  official  ses- 
sion, council,  quarterly  conference  or  annual 
meetings  of  the  congregation.  The  church  some- 
times supports  the  Sunday-school  and  then  the 
school  develops  offerings,  one  or  two  a  month 
for  the  local  church,  which  train  the  scholars  to 
become  regular  givers  to  the  church.  The  re- 
turns from  the  Sunday-school  are  always  more 
to  the  church  treasury  than  the  school  costs. 

We  have  elsewhere  set  forth  the  work  of  the 
Sunday-school  in  its  ingathering  plans  and  re- 
sults,f  and  in  other  work  along  general  lines  in 
co-operation  with  the  church.  It  would  require  a 
volume  itself  to  detail  the  very  remarkable  im- 
provements recently  in  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tion, especially  as  inspired  and  effected  by  County 
and  State  Sunday-school  organizations.  One 
further  illustration  ought  to  be  given.  Fayette 
County,  Pennsylvania,  five  years  ago  had  151 
Sunday-schools  with  13,996  enrolled,  thirteen 
Cradle  Rolls  and  eight  Home  Departments,  the 
Sunday-schools  containing  only  thirteen  per  cent. 

*  See  Appendix  for  extended  plans, 
t  Chap.  XIX. 


296 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM, 


of  the  total  population  of  the  county.  This  was 
the  lowest  of  any  county  in  the  State.  Now  there 
are  261  Sunday-schools  with  33,cx)0  enrollment 
which  is  fully  30  per  cent,  of  the  population,  136 
Cradle  Rolls,  98  Home  Departments,  "^2  Teacher 
Training  classes  and  about  60  adult  organized 
classes.  All  these  gains  though  by  County  Asso- 
ciation work  went  directly  to  local  schools  and 
they  were  largely  the  work  of  one  earnest  man, 
Mr.  B.  S.  Forsythe.  The  spiritual  ingathering 
into  churches  has  been  correspondingly  large  all 
over  the  county.  This  wonderful  result  has  been 
achieved  by  institutes,  conventions,  a  large 
correspondence,  a  county  school  of  methods  for  a 
week  for  two  years,  a  state  convention,  and  the 
field  work  of  this  earnest  layman  for  a  few  years. 
This  is  a  county  almost  wholly  rural,  coal  mining 
in  large  part,  and  many  sections  chiefly  with 
foreign  people. 

In  general  it  will  be  found  that  when  a  Sunday- 
school  is  smaller  than  the  church  membership  the 
church  roll  steadily  decreases  to  the  Sunday- 
school  level.  When  the  Sunday-school  is  twice 
as  large  as  the  church  roll  the  church  grows 
rapidly,  and  when  the  Sunday-school  teaching  is 
far  below  that  of  the  public  school  the  boys, 
young  men  and  women  leave  the  Sunday-school. 

There  are  still  thousands  *  of  country  sections, 

*  American  Sunday-school  Union  missionaries  and  those 
of  the  great  denominations  estimate  25,000  to  30,000  such 
places  in  America. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.     297 

some  of  them  in  the  older  States,  where  the  small 
Sunday-school  of  twenty  scholars  or  less  is  the 
only  religious  organization  now  possible.  Here 
the  Sunday-school,  while  adapting  plans  of  thor- 
ough organization  to  local  conditions,  must  feel 
its  larger  obligation  to  the  religious  needs  of  the 
sparsely  settled  region  in  which  it  works.  These 
schools  should  make  strenuous  efforts  to  be 
"  evergreen  "  schools,  the  suggestive  name  given 
by  American  Sunday-School  Union  workers  to 
Sunday-schools  open  all  the  year.  If  it  seems 
necessary  to  close  in  winter  let  the  closed  period 
be  shortened  year  after  year.  It  is  all  essential  to 
set  high  standards  of  progress  which  are  yet  prac- 
tical and  attainable  in  its  field.  In  these  strictly 
Sunday-school  fields  of  Christian  work  there  may 
be  isolated  families  reached  by  neighborly  trips 
of  the  farm  carriage  or  market  wagon  going  for 
them.  The  plan  of  the  consolidated  public  school 
in  the  country  furnishing  large  wagons  for  routes 
may  to  some  extent  voluntarily  be  carried  out  for 
the  Sunday-school. 

As  population  increases  these  Sunday-school 
outposts  of  the  coming  church  mature  into  well 
equipped  churches.  Pastors  are  called  to  serve 
them  or  appointed  by  the  general  church  or  Home 
Missionary  society.  But  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
so  sparsely  settled  are  vast  stretches  of  great 
states,  the  Sunday-school  must  pioneer  the  Chris- 
tianizing of  great  farming  regions.  It  is  impor- 
tant in  these  little  schools  that  every  good  plan  in 


298 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


the  Sunday-school  movement  of  modern  times 
that  can  possibly  be  used  should  be  utilized.  The 
Cradle  Roll  is  always  easy  to  organize,  the  Home 
Department  is  just  what  such  communities  will 
find  helpful,  and  some  grading  is  always  possible 
with  extra  general  lessons  on  the  Bible  and  the 
Christian  life.  The  blackboard  may  surely  be 
used  with  maps,  charts,  and  Bible  pictures. 

II.  The  Young  People's  Society.  The  various 
denominational  movements  like  the  Epworth 
League,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  and 
others,  with  the  Christian  Endeavor  which  is 
found  in  all  denominations,  have  achieved  a  really 
revolutionary  work  by  young  people  in  the 
church.  They  have  changed  the  attitude  of  the 
general  church  to  its  young  people,  giving  them 
special  attention  in  all  services  and  larger  oppor- 
tunity for  service.  But  the  young  people's  society 
continues  the  training  school  for  church  workers, 
and  it  has  a  specially  fine  opportunity  in  towns 
and  villages.  It  develops  many  lines  of  mission 
work,  benevolence,  literary,  and  social  work,  and 
may  be  kept  deeply  spiritual.  Its  reading  courses 
on  church  history  and  ethical  problems,  its  splen- 
did mission  studies,  and  its  various  movements  on 
mutual  helpfulness  and  aggressive  Christian  life, 
like  tithing,  personal  work,  secret  prayer,  and 
mission  work  have  been  notable  contributions  to 
the  local  church.  The  rural  church  should  have 
a  live  young  people's  society  incorporating  all 
good  adjuncts  of  the  movements  at  large.    Their 


THE  CHURCH lAT RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    299 

meetings  should  be  made  especially  attractive  by 
well  prepared  singing  and  good  leadership.  The 
regular  meeting  will  be  most  helpful  during  the 
week.  For  these  societies,  as  for  the  Sunday- 
school,  there  is  an  abundant  literature  of  methods 
of  work. 

III.  Brotherhoods,  as  a  new  organization  of 
men  for  men,  have  grown  large  and  influential. 
They  are  social  and  spiritual  and  in  notable  in- 
stances have  brought  about  great  revivals  gather- 
ing large  numbers  of  men  into  the  church.  Their 
social  features  alone  justify  their  existence.  In 
one  church  a  social  was  held  after  Sunday  night 
service,  and  every  stranger  at  once  taken  into  the 
church  family.  Another  brotherhood  had  a  no- 
table debating  club  on  great  moral  and  civic  ques- 
tions. The  rural  church  in  a  town  or  suburb  may 
develop  a  brotherhood  which  will  increase  the 
attendance  of  men  upon  church  services  and  have 
an  inspiring  effect  upon  young  men  and  boys.  It 
will  develop  a  body  of  men  as  personal  workers. 

IV.  The  King's  Daughters  is  a  society  with  a 
fine  prestige  from  a  general  movement,  in  broad 
and  practical  lines  of  Christlike  service.  It  be- 
comes a  rich  blessing  both  to  the  circle  and  to  the 
church.  It  will  care  for  the  sick,  the  poor,  the 
neglected  orphan,  and  do  other  spiritual  and 
benevolent  work. 

V.  Missionary  Bands  and  societies  in  the  local 
church  are  becoming  well  known.  The  Woman's 
Foreign  and  the  Woman's  Home  auxiliaries,  the 


300  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

Children's  Mission  bands,  and  others  are  very 
helpful  in  developing  the  world-wide  church  con- 
sciousness. Sometimes  the  local  society  cares  for 
a  special  worker  or  for  a  child  in  the  mission  field, 
and  this  gives  definiteness  and  realism  to  the 
work. 

VI.  Children's  Societies  are  many  and  are 
usually  easy  to  organize,  for  children  are  eager  to 
work  for  Christ  in  definite  ways.  The  Junior 
Christian  Endeavor  and  other  Junior  societies  are 
fine  training  schools  for  child  Christians.  Mission 
Bands,  sunshine  circles,  temperance  societies,  like 
the  Band  of  Mercy  and  the  Loyal  Temperance 
Legion,  are  doing  great  service  in  many  towns 
and  villages  but  as  yet  a  small  proportion  of  the 
whole,  and  ought  to  be  introduced  everywhere. 

VIL  Boys'  and  Girls'  Organizations.  The 
boys  and  girls  from  nine  to  twelve  years  of  age 
are  specially  fond  of  organization  and  there  are 
many  helpful  societies  planned  for  them  which 
are  popular,  full  of  enthusiasm,  and  helpful  in 
forming  Christian  character.     See  Appendix. 

VIIL  Intermediate  organizations  for  young 
people  from  twelve  years  to  sixteen  have  come 
into  prominence  in  large  numbers  in  recent  years. 
The  church  has  awakened  to  the  consciousness 
of  long  neglect  of  youth  in  any  effective  way. 
Select  such  of  this  list  as  will  employ  all  the 
young  people.     See  list  in  Appendix. 

IX.  Ladies'  Aid  Societies  are  the  most  numer- 
ous and  active,  in  all  probability,  of  any  outside 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RUr.AL  CHRISTIANIZING.    301 

of  the  Sunday-school  and  Young  People's  So- 
cieties. Usually  they  are  operated  strictly  for 
financial  resources  and  their  ability  has  saved 
many  a  struggling  church  from  crushing  bur- 
dens if  not  from  extinction.  There  is  often  found 
a  woman  of  exceptional  business  ability  and  here 
only  has  the  church  yet  used  her  talents.  In 
church  building  or  improvements  or  in  debt  pay- 
ing, or  even  in  raising  the  pastor's  salary  in  an 
emergency  the  "  Ladies  Aid  "  have  notable  rec- 
ords. In  one  case  a  society  divided  into  circles 
of  ten  each,  and  each  circle  led  by  one  of  their 
number,  worked  various  devices  in  a  competitive 
way  in  a  country  church. 

X.  Ushers'  Associations  are  so  simple  and  im- 
mediately helpful  they  ought  to  be  formed  in 
every  church.  They  give  excellent  culture  to 
young  men  and  add  much  to  the  comfort  of 
strangers  and  regular  attendants.  They  are  often 
the  means  of  beginning  definite  church  work  for 
many  young  men. 

XI.  Literary  and  Educational  Work  in  the 
Country  Church. 

The  best  endeavor  for  the  intellectual  quicken- 
ing of  the  church  is  the  well-known  Chautauqua 
Literary  and  Scientific  Circle.  It  will  interest 
high  school  and  college  graduates,  well-educated 
school  teachers,  and  all  intelligent  people  old  and 
young.  Even  a  small  group  of  church  members 
and  friends  pursuing  the  course  creates  an  atmos- 
phere and  sets  a  higher  standard  of  reading  and 


302 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


thinking.  In  one  town  several  churches  had  the 
C.  L.  S.  C,  and  a  local  union  was  formed  which 
built  a  Chautauqua  Hall.  The  union  insures  a 
good  attendance  at  high  class  lectures. 

If  there  is  a  village  or  town  literary  society  * 
the  church  will  find  it  a  helpful  social  and  intellec- 
tual center.  Debates  on  current  questions  of  civic, 
social,  or  personal  ethics  are  always  very  popular 
and  are  a  fine  development  of  moral  character. 
Reading  courses,  mission  study  courses,  and  the 
C.  L.  S.  C.  may  all  be  co-ordinated  with  the 
literary  society  for  mutual  helpfulness. 

XIL  Gymnasium  classes.  Some  country 
churches  in  villages  and  towns,  where  no  general 
gymnasium  under  other  auspices  exists,  have  be- 
gun one  in  partial  furnishing  with  excellent  re- 
sults. It  will  be  found  everywhere  of  great  value 
in  character  building  and  in  reaching  boys  and 
young  men  for  the  church. 

XIII.  Special  spiritual  organizations  in  the 
country  church.  Cottage  praying  bands  which 
hold  prayer  meetings  in  homes  are  of  the  highest 
value  for  the  training  of  young  converts  and  for 
aggressive  evangelism.  Only  a  leader  and  a  sec- 
retary are  required  as  officers  with  a  membership 
of  six  to  ten  men.  One  church  had  three  such 
bands  constantly  holding  meetings  in  homes  dur- 
ing the  week  or  late  Sunday  afternoons.  One 
band  always  sought  for  homes  of  non-Christian 
people,  and  the  writer  as  a  young  man  in  that 
*  See  Section  II.  Chap.  XVII. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    303 

country  church  remembers  the  unusual  spiritual 
power  of  those  meetings.  The  fact  of  being  in  a 
non-Christian  home  was  an  inspiration  to  deeper 
earnestness  and  heightened  interest. 

Personal  Workers'  Circles  of  about  five  each 
are  very  helpful.  These  are  connected  in  some 
instances,  with  the  Adult  Organized  Bible  Class, 
and  are  called  "  The  Secret  Service  "  because  they 
pray  for  certain  men  agreed  upon  by  themselves 
but  not  known  to  others,  and  pledge  themselves 
to  seek  every  opportunity  to  speak  to  them  about 
personal  salvation.  The  church  at  large  is  being 
aroused  to  the  vital  importance  of  such  personal 
work.  Rev.  Dr.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  the  noted 
Baptist  pastor,  states  that  98  per  cent,  of  his  over 
five  thousand  accessions  to  his  great  church  were 
brought  in  by  personal  work.  Even  where 
churches  have  large  accessions  in  occasional 
sweeping  revivals  they  would  grow  faster  steadily 
by  organized  bands  of  personal  workers  and  when 
the  revivals  came  they  would  multiply  many-fold 
the  results.  Every  member  of  the  church  should 
be  sought  for  personal  spiritual  work,  the  one 
thing  which  is  most  strictly  Christlike  work. 

**  Christian  Conversation  Classes  "  are  a  happy 
scheme  by  pastors  in  some  towns.  These  classes 
study  personal  evangelism  by  Bible  truth,  and  the 
methods  of  introducing  Bible  truth  into  social 
conversation.  Dr.  Trumbull's  "  Individual  Work 
for  Individuals,"  S.  D.  Gordon's  "  Quiet  Talks," 
Dr.     Weaver's     "  Christian     Conversationalist " 


304  RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 

and  Moody's  handbooks  on  Bible  texts  are  used.* 

Local  Mission  Sunday-schools  are  projected  by 
little  companies  of  workers  from  a  church.  There 
are  many  neglected  neighborhoods  where  in 
schoolhouses  or  little  village  homes  a  Sunday- 
school  may  be  started.  This  is  excellent  work, 
the  very  best  possible  work,  at  which  to  set  young 
converts  and  promising  young  leaders. 

In  towns  where  many  foreign  people  are  con- 
gregating, young  people  should  be  set  to  studying 
their  language  and  customs  to  do  personal  mission 
work  among  them.  There  are  country  churches 
doing  this  Christlike  extension  work. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  twenty 
States  are  now  conducting  circuits  of  work  for 
young  men  in  towns  and  country  places  unable 
to  support  an  association.  One  secretary  supplies 
a  dozen  points  in  social,  spiritual,  and  organizing 
service  for  men  and  boys.  This  is  an  opportunity 
of  which  many  pastors  and  leaders  in  such  towns 
may  avail  themselves. 

Schemes  of  general  Bible  reading  by  the 
church  are  needed.  We  cannot  have  too  much 
reading  of  it,  if  even  we  should  get  it  re-opened 
in  all  public  schools,  and  thoroughly  taught  in 
Sunday-schools ;  if  we  should  succeed  in  reviv- 
ing its  teaching  in  all  homes  and  its  more 
scholarly  study  in  colleges.    All  the  more  would 

»  See  also  Mead's  "  Modem  Church  Methods,"  Stall's 
"  Church  Methods,"  Reisner's  "  Workable  Methods  for  Wide 
Awake  Churches,"  Rice's  "  Handy  Helps." 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RURAL  CHRISTIANIZING.    305 

plans  of  reading  it  by  the   church  be  adopted 
and  prosecuted! 

(i)  One  pastor  suggests  for  his  church  every 
winter  some  particular  book  like  the  Gospel  of 
John  or  an  Old  Testament  book  of  history  or 
prophecy.  His  sermons  then  are  frequently  upon 
passages  from  John,  his  prayer-meeting  talks  are 
based  upon  the  most  interesting  spiritual  topics 
of  that  Gospel.  In  his  pastoral  visitation  he  dis- 
cusses John  with  those  who  are  reading  the  book. 
If  it  is  a  short  book  instead  of  John  the  next 
course  is  given  in  a  month  or  two.  He  suggests 
helpful  books  for  the  family  library  upon  the 
book  read. 

(2)  Church  Bible  memory  lessons  are  used  by 
some  pastors.  Twenty  choice  Psalms  are  first 
taken  up,  the  1st,  2nd,  8th,  15th,  19th,  23rd,  51st, 
65th,  90th,  91st,  among  others;  the  12th,  35th, 
53rd  of  Isaiah ;  passages  from  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  of  five  or  six  verses  each;  the  parables 
of  the  Good  Samaritan  and  the  Prodigal  Son; 
I  Corinthians  13,  and  passages  from  other 
Epistles.  These  are  recited  in  prayer-meetings 
and  wonderfully  enrich  that  service. 

(3)  Some  pastors  use  the  International  Bible 
Reading  Association  which  pursues  a  course 
of  Daily  Readings  in  connection  with  the  In- 
ternational Sunday-school  Lessons;  the  daily 
Bible  readings  of  several  Sunday-school  maga- 
zines. If  any  of  these  are  adopted  they  must  be 
wisely  related  to  the  public  services  of  the  church 


3o6 


RURAL  CHRISTENDOM. 


and  observed  as  much  as  possible  by  all  the 
people. 

3.  These  schemes  are  an  excellent  beginning 
toward  that  comprehensive  Bible  v/ork  which  the 
pastor  and  church  should  undertake.  They  must 
aim  to  give  the  whole  Bible  to  the  whole  church. 
Fragmentary  teaching  of  it  by  a  verse  here  and 
there,  and  by  unconnected  brief  prayer-meeting 
lessons  cannot  develop  the  fullest  power  of  the 
church  nor  symmetrical  Christian  character  in 
the  people.  It  is  a  Providential  movement,  surely, 
in  our  day  that  has  rescued  the  most  neglected 
portions  of  the  Bible  like  the  Minor  Prophets 
and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  fixed  a  very 
thorough  study  upon  them  in  recent  years.  And 
these  books  of  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the 
early  history  of  the  church  have  proven  the  maost 
stirring  messages  to  the  sins  and  follies  of  the 
church  to-day  and  inspiring  calls  to  largest  serv- 
ice. In  the  town  church  and  in  the  suburb  it 
is  practicable  in  the  course  of  five  years,  or  even 
if  it  should  be  given  ten  years,  to  cover  a  com- 
prehensive Bible  study  and  teaching.  The  Sun- 
day-school lessons  may  be  co-ordinated  with  it, 
prayer-meeting  lessons,  pulpit  themes  and  series 
of  revival  meeting  messages  all  form  a  part  of  it. 

The  blessings  of  a  Bible  revival  in  the  church 
are  sure  and  immediate.  It  will  fill  the  general 
field  of  conversation  and  drive  out  small  talk 
and  gossip.  It  will  be  sure  to  revive  family  re- 
ligion  and   in   many   cases    family   worship.      It 


THE  CHUR CH  IN  RURAL  CHRIS TIA NIZING.     307 

will  erect  standards  for  business,  social  life,  and 
personal  character.  It  will  inspire  to  larger  edu- 
cation, and  indeed,  it  is  the  foundation  of  Chris- 
tian civilization  in  all  that  is  good  and  uplifting 
to  mankind. 


I 


APPENDIX. 

I.  Adult  Organized  Classes. 

In  the  line  of  special  work  these  organized  classes  can  do 
there  is  an  excellent  summary  in  the  "  Pennsylvania  Herald,'' 
February,  1909,  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Huber  of  Harrisburg: 

1.  The  Bible  class  may  canvass  the  church  and  get  every 
man  to  join  the  organization. 

2.  It  may  canvass  the  Sunday-school  and  invite  every  young 
man  over  sixteen  to  attend  the  meetings. 

3.  Canvass  the  neighborhood  and  secure  unchurched  men 
to  affiliate  with  the  class  either  in  an  active  or  an  associate 
relationship. 

4.  Have  careful  oversight  of  the  membership  roll  and  oper- 
ate a  follow-up  system  for  absent  members. 

5.  It  may  arrange  for  weekly  or  monthly  devotional  meet- 
ings for  men. 

6.  Occasionally  conduct  a  public  service  in  place  of  the 
regular  preaching  service,  at  which  the  laymen  will  speak  on 
practical  Christian  subjects,  such  as  "  What  I  Should  Do  if  I 
Were  a  Preacher,"  the  preacher  in  turn  speaking  on  the  sub- 
ject, "  What  I  Should  Do  if  I  Were  a  Layman." 

7.  Plan  for  evangelistic  meetings  for  men  only.  Thor- 
oughly advertise  them  in  the  community  with  a  view  to  secur- 
ing the  attendance  of  unchurched  men. 

8.  Invite  men  and  families  to  the  regular  Sunday  services, 
and  so  increase  the  attendance. 

9.  Work  for  an  increased  interest  and  attendance  at  the 
regular  weekly  prayer-meeting  by  securing  men  to  come  and 
take  part. 

10.  Co-operate  systematically  in  revival  efforts. 

11.  Stand  by  the  minister  and  church  officers  in  every  for- 
ward movement  of  the  congregation. 

309 


3IO 


APPENDIX. 


12.  Give  occasional  social  functions  in  order  to  enlarge  and 
increase  the  acquaintance  of  the  organization  with  the  men 
of  the  Sunday-school  and  community. 

13.  Make  visiting  men  and  boys  feel  at  home  at  the  church 
services. 

14.  Secure  the  names  of  strangers  in  the  community  and  in 
attendance  at  the  church  services,  and  manifest  a  religious 
interest  in  them. 

15.  Have  the  men's  organization  plan  the  annual  vSunday- 
school  and  church  picnic,  or  outing,  and  provide  music,  games, 
refreshments,  etc. 

16.  Once  or  twice  a  year  invite  the  entire  church  to  be  the 
guests  of  the  men's  organization,  the  men  to  furnish  both  the 
program  and  simple  refreshments.  This  will  give  the  sisters 
a  well-deserved  and  greatly  appreciated  rest. 

17.  Have  a  social  occasion  for  the  discussion  of  matters  of 
local  and  general  interest,  inviting  as  a  special  guest  a  re- 
turned missionary,  some  general  officer  of  the  church,  or 
others. 

18.  Give  a  reception  to  the  minister. 

19.  Visit  the  sick  and  needy,  and  manifest  practical  sym- 
pathy and  help  in  time  of  need  and  affliction. 

20.  Make  the  minister's  Sunday  sermons  and  services 
special  subjects  of  prayer. 

21.  Pursue  a  series  of  studies  in  personal  work,  together 
with  constant  endeavor  to  lead  men  to  Christ. 

22.  Plan  and  conduct  a  series  of  Bible  studies  at  weekly 
meetings.  The  demand  in  some  places  is  for  a  plan  of  Bible 
study  differing  from  that  of  the  International  Sunday-school 
lessons. 

23.  Help  to  interest  the  men  of  the  church  in  the  work  of 
the  Sunday-school.  Arrange  for  lectures  on  Bible  study  and 
travels  in  Bible  lands. 

24.  Form  mission  study  classes,  and  so  disseminate  facts 
and  create  a  missionary  interest. 

25.  Secure  and  furnish  a  reading-room  for  men  and  boys  of 
the  church  and  community.  This  is  especially  necessary  in  a 
town  where  there  is  no  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


APPENDIX.  211 

26.  Provide  lectures,  books  or  library  for  the  intellectual 
improvement  of  men. 

27.  Drive  a  wedge  into  the  monotony  of  preaching  by  hold- 
ing open-air  meetings  during  the  summer  months. 

28.  Be  responsible  for  a  mission  Sunday-school  in  the 
community,  or  do  some  definite  work  abroad. 

29.  Engage  earnestly  in  all  movements  of  civic  reform. 

30.  Supplement  the  home  in  providing  for  bo3's  and  young 
men  the  means  of  recreation  and  amusement,  and  see  that 
they  are  led  into  a  Christian  life. 

31.  Help  men  to  discover  themselves  and  realize  their 
highest  possibilities  in  Christian  usefulness. 

32.  Create  in  men  a  consciousness  of  the  mission  of  their 
denomination  in  the  world  and  promote  loyalty  in  the  denomi- 
nation. 

33.  One  class  held  a  reception  Election  night  near  where 
the  returns  were  displayed  and  served  coffee  and  buns  to  the 
waiting  men. 

34.  Another  whose  pastor  was  on  a  circuit  offered  to  pay 
additional  support  to  have  him  all  the  time  and  succeeded. 

35.  Another  gave  baskets  to  the  poor  at  Christmas. 

36.  Organize  glee  clubs  or  evangelistic  singing,  male  quar- 
tettes and  choruses. 

II.  Boys'  and  Girls*  Organizations. 

1.  Junior  Baraca,  M.  A.  Hudson,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

2.  Junior  Philathea,      M.  A.  Hudson,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

3.  Boys'  Brigade,  United     Boys'   Brigade   of   America. 

91-93  Wall  St.,  N.  Y. 

4.  Boys'  Life  Brigade,  Andrew  Melrose,         16   Pilgrim    St., 

London,  E.  C.  England. 
For  those  who  do  not  like  the  military  drill.     This  is  a  life- 
saving  drill  and  training. 

5.  Anti-Cigarette  Society,      Miss  Lucy  Page  Gaston,      The 

Temple,  Chicago. 

6.  Band  of  Mercy,  19  Milk  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

7.  Girls'  Sunshine  Band,  Edith  M.  Balch,  Burlington,  Vt. 

8.  Messenger  Department,  Rev.  Joel  Harper,    1356  Marion 

St.,  Denver  Colo. 


312 


APPENDIX.  • 


9.  Mission  Bands,  Denominational         Missionary 

Societies. 

10.  Boys'  Camps  and  Camping.    "  (How  to  Camp)  "  Henry 

F.  Burt,  Pillsbury  House,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

11.  The  Junior  Grange,     N.  J.  Batchelder,      Concord,  N.  H. 

12.  Lincoln  Legion,  Anti-saloon  League,  103  E.  12581.,  N.  Y. 

13.  Boys'  Whistling  Club,   Grant   O.  Tullar,    150  Fifth  Ave., 

N.  Y. 

14.  Nature  Study,  Bird  Classes,  Chester  A.  Reed,  Worcester, 

Mass. 

15.  Knights  of  the  Holy  Grail,  Rev.  Perry  E.  Powell,  Garrett, 

Ind. 

16.  Junior   Christian  Endeavor,    Tremont  Temple,     Boston, 

Mass. 

17.  Knights  of  the  Silver  Cross,  White  Cross,  224  Waverly 

Place,  N.  Y. 

18.  The  George  Junior  Republic,  Wm.  R.  George,  Freeville, 

N.  Y. 

19.  Boyville,  Near  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

20.  Nature  Study  Clubs,  The  Agassiz  Ass'n,   H.  H.  Ballard, 

Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Handbook  "Three  Kingdoms  "  75c. 

21.  Clan  Gordon,    (religious)   Rev.    Granville    R.    Pike,    Eau 

Claire,  Wis. 
(list  of  Thomas  Chew,  Fall  River,  Mass,  in  part.) 

III.  Young  People's  Organizations. 

1.  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew,  Hubert  Carleton,  Broadway 

Exchange  Bldg.,  Boston. 

2.  W^oodcraft  Indians,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  124  East  28th  St.,  New 

York. 

3.  Brotherhood  of  David,  Rev.  P'rank  L.  Massoch,  Potsdam, 

N.  Y. 

4.  Order  of  the  Triangle,  Eugene  C.  Foster,  care  of  Y.  M.  C. 

A.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

5.  Boys'  Class   of  Bible  School  Cadets,   J.  H.   Elliott,  Des 

Moines,  Iowa. 


APPENDIX.  313 

6.  Temple  Builders,  Colo.  State  S.  S.  Association,  Denver, 

Colo. 

7.  The   Quest   of  the   Holy  Grail,   Rev,  H.  H.   Meyer,  150 

Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 

8.  The  Knights  of  Valor,  Rev.  J.  A.  Duff,  D.  D.,  Aspinwall, 

Pa. 

9.  Knights  of  King  Arthur,  F.  L.  Massock,  Potsdam,  N.  Y. 

10.  Kings'  Daughters  and  Sons.     Mrs.  M.  L.  Dickinson,  156 

Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 

11.  Dorcas  Circle, 

12.  Queen  Esther  Circle. 

13.  I.  A.  H.  Circle  (for  girls)  D.  C.  Cook,  Elgin,  111. 

14.  Elder  Brother  Organization,   Rev.  W.  M.  Smith,  D.  D. 

East  57th  St.,  New  York. 

15.  Loyal  Temperance  Legion,  The  Temple,  Chicago,  111. 

16.  White  Shield  League,  Eaton  &  Mains,   150   Fifth  Ave., 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

17.  The  Chautauqua  Junior  Naturalists  Club,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

18.  Civic  Co-operation  Association,  R.  D.  Routsaln,  Municipal 

Museum,  Chicago,  111. 

19.  Quest  of  the  White  Shield,  Rev.  E.  M.  Waring,  Williams- 

port,  Ind. 

20.  Knights  of  the  Church,  D.  C.  Cook,  Elgin,  III. 

(List  of  Mr.  Frank  L.  Brown,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.) 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


A. 

Actual  conditions  in  country  districts i8 

Adult  organized  classes  in  the  Sunday-school 295 

Advantages  for  spiritual  culture  in  the  country 13-^7 

Advantages  of  the  suburban  church 78 

Advantages  of  the  town 59 

Agricultural  associations 188 

American  Sunday-School  Union  missionaries 296 

Appreciating  worthy  church  workers 290 

Approaches  to  villages  improved 204 

Ashland,  Ohio,  on  Christian  work 233 

"  Atmosphere  "  in  pedagogy 9 

B. 

Babcock,  Maltbie  D 238 

Beautifying  homes  and  surroundings 199 

Berwyn,  Md.,  Presbyterian  church 259 

Bible    in  the  public  schools 1 79 

Bible  revival  in  the  church 306 

Bible  work  in  the  local  church 304 

Books  shaping  lives ^75 

"  Borough  "  form  of  local  government 123 

Boys'  and  Giris'  Organizations,  Appendix 311 

Boys'  Messenger  Corps 237 

Brotherhoods  in  the  church 299 

Burkett  on  the  Farm  Home 163 

Bushnell's  "  Age  of  Homespun  " 162 

Business  methods  of  olden  times 141 

315 


3i6  TOPICAL  INDEX, 

PAGE 

Business  on  ethical  principles 146 

Buttcrfield,  President,  on  the  country  church ,  260 

C. 

Carlyle  on  books 175 

Children  organized  in  the  church 300 

Christ's  broad  and  varied  work 248 

Church  pre-eminent  in  the  country 15 

Church  undeveloped  not  exhausted 108,  218 

City  form  of  government  in  small  town 122 

"  City  "  in  United  States  Census 20 

Civic  conditions  in  the  country. 121 

Civic  development  essential 126 

Civilization  is  fuller  organization 103 

College  town 69 

Commission  on  Country  Life 47»  92 

Communities  of  five  kinds 18 

Comprehensive  Bible  work  in  local  church 306 

Confusion  of  thought  on  Christian  giving. . .  262 

Country  churches  in  financial  straits 262 

Country  colleges 180 

Country  people  sharing  in  modern  progress 95 

Country  store  a  social  center. 149 

County  seat  town 63 

Curfew  law  enforced  in  villages 1 27 

D. 

Decadence  of  the  town 55 

Denominations  in  America ...   223 

Divine  call  to  workers 1 18 

Drift  of  population  now  country-ward 22 

E. 

Educating  for  country  life 175 

Education  compulsory 169 

Educational  improvement 167 

Electric  railways  in  the  country 83 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


317 


FAQS 

Emerson  on  books 175 

Enthusiasm  for  the  farm 95 

Esthetic  culture  by  Village  Improvement 201 

Esthetic  movements  in  the  local  church 257 

Ethico-political  discussions  promoted 124 

Evening  in  the  farm-house 14 

Every  church  member  a  worker 249 

F. 

Factory  towns 64 

Farm  business  made  honest 147 

Farmers' wives,  Good  Housekeeping 161 

Farmers'  wives,  Ladies'  Home  Journal 1 58 

Farmers'  wives,  Roosevelt 1 57 

Federation  of  church  work ...   237 

Federation  of  ch  urches,  actual  cases 278 

Finances  chaotic  in  country  churches 262 

First-fruits  principle  in  giving 266 

Fishing  villages 69 

Flag  honored  in  villages 125 

Future  of  rural  districts  full  of  promise 81 

G. 

Gambling  in  villages 128 

*•  Good  Housekeeping  "  on  farmers'  wives 161 

Good  roads  movement ...     82 

Gospel  principles  of  Christian  work 106 

Gospel  propaganda  by  ideals loi 

Government  of  United  States  helping  farmers 86,  90 

Grading  the  Sunday-school 293 

Granges  growing  and  prosperous 187 

Gray,  on  buried  talents 284 

Growth  of  rural  America  22 

H. 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  Adult  Bible  classes 233 

Harris  on  nature  revealing  God 12 


3i8  TOPICAL  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Herschell  on  the  heavens 1 1 

High  Schools  for  rural  districts 177 

Hillis  on  value  of  education 174 

Historic  spots  in  the  village 203 

Hitchcock  on  nature  revealing  God ...    11 

Holly  Springs,  N.  C,  High  School 176 

Holy  Spirit  vs.  Organization 107 

Home  as  Christianizing  power 1 54 

Home  conditions  in  the  country 1 58 

Home  ideals  in  rest  and  fellowship 150 

Home  is  ideal  in  the  country 150 

Home  replenished  by  the  church 155 

Homes  that  are  unattractive . .  45 

Hospitality  in  Christian  w-ork 255 

Hudson,  Marshall   A.,  in  Baraca   and    Philathea   Adult 

Bible  class 234 

Huxley  and  Tyndall  on  Bible  in  schools 180 

I. 

Immorality  thoughtlessly  fostered 36 

Improvements,  Village  Association 199 

Individual  work  for  individuals 235 

Industries  returning  to  towns 56 

Institutes  for  farmers 182 

Institutes  for  farmers  in  all  States 183 

Institutes  for  farmers  in  Penna 185 

Intellectual  work  in  local  church 255 

Inter-communication  improved 204 

Interstate  Commission  on  Agricultural  Association 188 

Irrigated  lands 92 

J- 

Jesus  not  understood  in  his  village 192 

Judging  superficially  of  neighbors 194 

K. 

King's  Daughters  Circles 299 


TOPICAL  INDEX,  ,19 

L, 

PAGE 

Ladies'  Aid  Societies 300 

"  Ladies'  Home  Journal  "  on  farmers'  wives 158 

Lamb  saying  "  grace  "  over  a  book 17c 

Law  and  Order  Societies  of  value 128 

Laws  unenforced  in  the  country 44 

Lesson  courses  in  the  Sunday-school 293,  294 

Lincoln 10 

Literary  Societies  in  the  church 301 

Local  church  a  missionary  center 228 

Local  newspaper  used ...   125 

Lodge  on  results  of  education 174 

Loneliness  of  American  farm  life 28,  40 

Lowell  on  ideals 261 

M. 

Many  offices  for  one  man 241 

Marburg,  Ala.,  in  Christian  work 232 

"  Men  raised  here  " 282 

Metropolitan  city  problem 18 

Milton  on  books 175 

Mining  towns 67 

Mission  bands  and  societies 299 

Moral  training  in  public  schools 178 

Moral  training  in   schools  as  illustrated   in   temperance 

reform 178 

Moral  training  in  the  church 259 

N. 

National  holidays  well  observed 1 24 

Nature  study  essential 172 

Nature  study  in  the  country    97 

Nevada,  Ohio,  in  Christian  work 231 

Nevada,  Ohio,  a  model  village 1 26 

"  Never  closed  church  " 255 

Northampton,  Mass,  in  education. . . ,, 175 


320  TOPICAL  INDEX, 

O. 

PAGE 

Objectionable  posters  and  cards  removed 1 28 

Offerings  proportionately  small 281 

One  office  for  one  man 244 

One  Sunday-school  Superintendent's  devotion 243 

One  talent  men  failing  to  work 239 

One-tenth  of  the  tithe  actually  given 281 

Open  church  all  the  time 255 

Organization  is  of  God 106 

Organization    perfected  in   denominational    movements 

not  in  local  church 217 

Organizing  to  find  all  the  talents 282 

Overcrowding  towns  by  small  churches 57 

P. 

Parables  of  the  Kingdom  applied 102 

Pastor's  vocation,  training  workers   249 

Personal  Workers'  Bands 248,  303 

Petty  crimes  abounding  in  towns 43 

Physical  improvement  of  villages 199 

Physical  opportunities  for  the  church 252 

Placing  the  trained  workers 289 

Plans  for  local  ingatherings 231 

Piatt,  Dr.  Ward,  on  churchless  towns 277 

Policemen  needed  for  villages 128 

Present  condition  of  local  churches 218 

Principles  of  Christian  work 224 

Proportionate  giving  in  the  church 230 

R. 

Railroad  secured  for  village 204 

Railroad  towns 66 

Relations  of  workmen  and  employer  on  the  farm 136 

Retail  business  morally  improved  141 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb 1 2,  198 

Roosevelt  on  the  farm  home 1 57 


TOPICAL  INDEX,  321 

PAGE 

Rural  free  delivery  of  mail,  statistics 86 

Ruskin  on  God  in  nature 12 

S. 

Sabbath  observance  profitable 138 

Salesmen's  perseverance 235 

Saloon  going  out  of  country  districts 95 

Saloons  driven  out 126 

School  Board  selected  wisely 174 

School  laws  improved 168 

Self-sacrifice  the  law  of  power 117 

Short  school  terms  demoralizing 168 

Skepticism  in  the  country 40 

Social  church  work 254 

Social  conditions  free 16 

Social  frivolities  of  the  small  town 52 

Social  Gospel 104 

Social  life  in  villages 191 

Special  spiritual  organization 302 

Spread  of  the  Gospel  by  ideals loi 

Spread  of  the  Gospel  by  individual  accessions 102 

Spurgeon  on  God  and  nature 12 

Statistics  of  farm  laborers 133 

Statistics  of  farm  production 1 32 

Statistics  of  farms  and  owners 133 

Stewardship  to  God  of  all  possessions 266 

Stores  as  social  centers 44 

Strategic  is  the  country  for  Christianizing 24 

Suburban  religious  conditions. 73 

Sunday-school  in  modern  organization 293 

Sunday-schools  training  to  give 279 

Superstitions  lingering  in  the  country 38 

Swearing  may  be  suppressed 1 28 

T. 

Teacher  Training  Class 289 

Teachers  carefully  selected 170-173 


32  2  TOPICAL  INDEX. 

PAGB 

Teacher's  powerful  influence 172 

Telephone  as  now  extended 206 

Telephone  in  the  country 85 

Tithing  a  practical  beginning 268 

Tithing  in  Christian  Endeavor  Societies 269 

Tithing  in  several  churches 271 

Tithing  in  Wesley  Chapel,  Cinn 270 

Training  the  members'  talents 288 

Two-fold  propaganda  of  Gospel loi 

U. 

Undeveloped  local  church 218 

United  States  Agricultural  Department 90 

Unoccupied  condition 48 

Ushers'  Associations 301 

Using  the  Colleges  in  organized  work 288 

Using  the  local  newspapers 125 

V. 

Value  of  literary  society 208 

Varied  work  for  all  talents 239 

Village  approaches  improved   204 

Village  Improvement  Association 199 

Village  Singing  Schools 202 

W. 

Wanamaker,  John,  on  Principles  of  Business 146 

Wealth  of  the  United  States 280 

Wesley's  motto 250 

Wife  of  farmer,  in  Roosevelt's  words 157 

Willing  workers  as  nucleus 115 

Wisconsin  University's  work  for  farmers 182 

Work-day  relations  of  former  times T31 

Workmen  wisely  developed 137 

Workshop  or  hospital  churches 1 13 


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